Try To Remember
by Bacon-poo
Summary: Hikari flees from Sound, the only place she could remember calling 'home'. Found by the Akatsuki, she is desperately trying to dig up lost memories, she's on a mission to uncover her past to try and make sense of her future. Full better summary inside.
1. I'm not going back

**Full summary! :**

Hikari flees from Sound, the only place she could remember calling 'home'. Found by the Akatsuki, she is desperately trying to dig up lost memories. She's on a mission to uncover her past to try and make sense of her future. Who knew being a yaoi addict and living with 4 other men would be so hard? Plus! You can't remember the first 8 years of your life; sounds kind of irritating huh?

**Disclaimer: I do not in any way, shape, or form, own Naruto or any of its characters.**

**Now that that's done with, this is my first FanFic or whatever you call it. I sort of have an idea for how this story is going to go, and if all goes according to plan, there should be many chapters to follow this. I'll list the character pairings later, as soon as I figure them all out. Hope you enjoy it! Please feel free to review. (:**

* * *

The dark-haired man sat at his chair. "Damn that girl," he thought to himself as he impatiently tapped his fingers on the desk in front of him. "Why now?" He quietly said aloud, "Why does she have to get curious now, of all times?" He placed his face in his hands and let out a sigh.

"My Lord," called a voice.

The man lifted his face from his hands, and brought his yellow eyes up to the face of his loyal assistant.

"What news do you have for me Kabuto?" He asked the snowy haired shinobi.

"I'm sorry Lord Orochimaru," Kabuto's head slightly drooped, "She's gotten out of the village."

Orochimaru's eyes turned into slits, "Can't anyone do anything right around here?" He mentally complained. "Send Ryuunosuke and Ryouichi after her; tell them to bring her back by any means. But…if they kill her, they'll have me to answer to."

Kabuto nodded and disappeared from the room. Orochimaru soothingly rubbed his temples.

"This girl is going to be the death of me," he whispered.

--

She quickly darted from tree to tree.

"I don't have much time," she thought, "I'm sure someone has already been sent after me."

She kept her eyes forward as she tried to calm the storm of thoughts in her mind.

Here she was, running away from the only place she could ever claim to call home; the only place she could remember that is. She was no rouge ninja, nor was she an angry child trying to get attention. She was simply a confused teenager that desperately wanted answers.

Barely a few months older than 16, she could only claim to remember the last 8 years of her life. The first 8 years however…her lips formed a frown. That was exactly what frustrated her. She couldn't truthfully say that the first half of her life was a complete mystery, but she still had no recollection of it. She had had dreams, she couldn't say for sure but they seemed to be the buried memories that she had been trying to dig up for the past 8 years. Whenever she awoke, those dreams would disappear, completely vacate from her memory; but she knew without a doubt that she had had those dreams. It was so unnerving, the answers were right in front of her but yet…

Did she have a real family? Who were they? Where was she really from? Why couldn't she remember anything? She desperately wanted answers to her unending list of questions, and she knew for certain that she couldn't find them in Sound, her so-called home.

Not even her sensei could give her the slightest hint of an answer. The girl had always admired her sensei for his physical as well as mental strength. He had not only been her sensei, but also her parental figure for the last 8 years, raising and training her from the only beginning she could remember.

"He must know something," she told herself in her head. He was the one that had found her, and the one that had brought her to live in Sound. She sighed. If he did know anything, he wasn't about to tell her.

"I don't need him," she mumbled mentally, "I don't need any of them. I can find the answers on my own."

She continued her sweep through the forest. It was incredible, the agility she had in comparison to her speed. One could say that being a shinobi of Sound for as long as she had, remarkable speed went hand in hand with a short of natural agility. But her fellow Sound shinobi as well as her sensei knew that her movements were something extraordinary. So fluid, so graceful and natural, her movements resembled what wind would look like if one could see it.

The kunoichi landed to a halt on a thick tree branch, breathing slightly faster than normal.

With a slender figure, she stood above normal height; not freakishly tall, but taller than most kunoichi are at her age. She wore a strapless black top that reached down and stopped an inch or two before her belly button. Tight black shorts trailed down and stopped about halfway to her knees, standard black sandals were wrapped around her feet, and a pair of black arm warmers covered her arms.

Dirty blond hair that revealed to have a glossy tint of red in the sunlight adorned her head. Growing out straight, it trailed down and grew into soft, natural curls that reached a little past her shoulders. Complete with bangs that cut straight across her forehead, her hair framed her slightly circular face. Her somewhat pale complexion made her eyes stand out; a light shade of honey emerged from her pupils, then flared into a medium emerald color, and finally rested on a dark tint of bluish-gray.

The young kunoichi was indeed beautiful. Her opponents would often dismiss her as weak and vulnerable solely on her looks. Many would call this an advantage on her part; and yet, it always hit a nerve in her. She loathed the idea of being underestimated, and the people foolish enough to do so

soon realized their transgressions. The girl had somewhat of a temper and that temper was usually accompanied by raw strength. It was rather difficult to bring the kunoichi's violent side out, and if someone was ever foolish enough to bring that side out, they quickly regretted doing so. But, normally she was happy and light hearted, avoiding conflict as much as possible.

A sudden rustle made the girl turn her head to look over her left shoulder; she saw nothing. Her soft pink lips curled into a smirk, a look of sinister amusement in her facial expression. She turned her head back to face forward once more, and looked straight ahead.

"Is Lord Orochimaru-sama so desperate?" she asked the surrounding trees. "He had to send you two, his strongest shinobi, all to apprehend little old me?" A few seconds of silence followed.

"You can make this easy," a male voice spoke out of the trees, "and return to Sound without a fight, or-"

The kunoichi cut him off, "'Or' sounds like the better choice for me."

"We've been told to bring you back by any means," said another male voice.

The kunoichi's smirk faded. Her face held no emotion. "I don't want to fight," she said with a monotone voice. She closed her eyes. "But I'm not going back to Sound," her eyes shot open to reveal her once hazel eyes to be flooded over with a shade of amethyst.

Suddenly, dozens of kunai knives poured out from the surrounding forest. All aimed at the kunoichi, they sliced through the air with paper bombs tied to the handles. The explosion that followed upon contact with the tree was massive, splintering the wood. The branch that the kunoichi had occupied, along with the tree it branched from, tumbled to the ground and resonated with a boom upon contact with the earth. The two ninja revealed themselves, jumping out of the camouflage of the surrounding trees, they landed on opposing branches. They looked down onto the collapsed tree.

The Sound shinobi named Ryouichi spoke first, "Well," a grin pulled at the edges of his lips, "That was easy."

"No." said Ryuunosuke; his eyes looked down onto the fallen tree indifferently.

Ryouichi looked up, confusion plastered across his features. "No?" he asked.

Ryouichi understood what his partner had meant when he saw a blur pass through his field of vision. He held his breath without realizing it as the violet-eyed kunoichi appeared in front of him; inches away from his face, the kunoichi softly chuckled.

"Did you think it would be that easy Ryouichi?" A smile spread over her face as she moved closer to the shinobi. "I thought you would know me better than that," her breath trailed over the length of his face, "My dear Ryouichi."

All his senses were flooded with her scent. Ryouichi tried to move, only to realize that his muscles would not respond.

"Paralysis?" he managed to say as he found his voice.

With another chuckle, the kunoichi raised her pointer finger. His gaze locked onto her finger as its tip began to glow white. She gently tapped his forehead, and Ryouichi fell unconscious. He began to tumble to the ground that was far below. The kunoichi quickly darted from the branch to catch him, and gently laid him onto the earth.

Ryuunosuke appeared a few yards behind her.

Still kneeling beside Ryouichi, the kunoichi said, "Now Ryuunosuke, will you please be nice enough to get out of my way?" The kunoichi, having heard no response, rose to her feet, and turned around to face Ryuunosuke. "Please," she offered a sincere smile, "You of all people should know that I don't enjoy conflict."

Ryuunosuke lunged at the kunoichi. She quickly sidestepped him, only to be met with another Ryuunosuke behind her. He dug one of his kunai into the back of her shoulder. She gasped in pain, but then turned her head to meet his gaze. A wicked smirk adorned her lips before she turned into a cloud of smoke. "A clone." Thought Ryuunosuke as his own clone vanished. He walked up to stand near Ryouichi.

"Please," he heard the kunoichi behind him, "I'm asking you for the last time. Don't make me fight you Ryuu-kun."

Hearing the obvious pain in her voice when she used the name she gave him when they were younger, he felt a twinge of misery in his heart. Recomposing himself, he coldly replied, "You're doing this to yourself. You don't have to leave. You can stay here, with everyone…with me."

The kunoichi was hurt by her friends' words, she cared deeply for her childhood friend, but she knew she had to get her answers, or she could never be happy anywhere with anyone.

Her hands balled into fists. She let out a sigh and said, "Ryuu-kun, I'm going to miss you."

Knowing that his friend wasn't going to give in, Ryuunosuke turned slowly. He looked into her eyes for a moment. "Orders are orders," he gloomily thought to himself.

Ryuunosuke lunged at the kunoichi once more, and their fight unfolded.

--

After what seemed like ages of fighting, the kunoichi managed to knock Ryuunosuke unconscious in the same manner as she did with Ryouichi.

She was crouched over Ryuunosuke, breathing hard, and she proceeded to remove a small chain from the pouch she carried on her side. A small piece of amethyst dangled from the chain; it was a keepsake 

she had had since her first few months in the Sound village. She stared at Ryuunosuke as she recalled that night…

_She had awoken from a nightmare, tears streaming down her cheeks. Ryuunosuke had come into her room some time before, awoken by the alarming sounds that came from her during her dream. He sat by her side as she hugged her knees to her chest and cried into them. He grasped one of her hands in his, and slipped the chained amethyst into her palm. She looked at the chain in her palm, then up at him with questioning eyes. _

"_It keeps the bad dreams away," he said with a smile. _

_She then threw her arms around his neck, "Thank you Ryuu-kun!" _

The childhood memory brought a smile to the kunoichi's face. With one last look at Ryuunosuke, she stood up. But as she left the ground to leap onto a branch, an intense pain stung in her abdomen. She crouched on the branch and wrapped her arms around herself, desperately trying to somehow push the pain away, but it only spread throughout her body.

Losing her balance, she fell forward onto her hands and knees. She gasped for air as it became harder to breath with the pain moving up from her abdomen to her chest. She began to cough violently. Covering her mouth with her hand, she tried to suppress her coughing fit. Her eyes widened as she felt something warm splatter onto her palm.

"Blood…" she thought as she stared at her crimson stained hand. The sight of blood was too much for her, and she soon fell into darkness, passing out on the branch.

--

Two cloaked figures could be seen running through the dense forest surrounding the Sound village. Both male, they darted through the forest at great speeds. One of the men had skin that appeared powder blue, with spiky hair that was a darker shade of blue. Tiny, circular eyes and gill-looking slits on his face gave the man the appearance of a fish. The other man had long black hair tied back into a ponytail, and unnatural crimson eyes. Both of the men were encased in large black cloaks flowing with red cloud-shaped designs on them.

They sped through the trees side by side, until suddenly, the red-eyed man noticed something out of the corner of his eye. He darted down, stopping on a branch. His partner followed.

"What is it?" asked the gilled man.

The other man's crimson eyes fell on the crumpled figure of the kunoichi, unconscious on the branch across from where he stood.

He leapt onto the branch, leaving the blue man behind, and crouched down next to the girl. He slowly turned her body over to look at her face. His jaw slightly stiffened at the sight of her face.

"It can't be her," he thought to himself as he brushed her bangs out of her face. He noticed a headband engraved with the emblem of the Sound village tied around her head.

His partner jumped onto the branch and crouched next to him. Looking at the kunoichi, he asked, "Who is this Itachi?"

The crimson-eyed man noticed the dried blood trailing from the side of her mouth. "How should I know Kisame?" He responded.

The kunoichi's eyes opened slowly at the sound of his voice. His crimson eyes locked onto her hazel ones.

"What's your name?" asked Itachi indifferently.

"Hikari," she said without hesitation. Why she had responded honestly to this stranger, she didn't know.

"Hikari…" Kisame said as he pondered the name, "Isn't that the name of that brat Orochimaru's got?"

Itachi just stared at the girl, looking into her eyes he thought, "It is her."

He slipped one arm under her neck, the other under her knees, and lifted her up.

"Let's go," he said as he began to jump from tree to tree again.

Hikari looked up at him, "He sounds...familiar," she thought to herself.

Itachi looked down at her suddenly, as if she had spoken aloud. She was instantly lost in his stare; a few seconds later, she was unconscious again.

--

Kabuto appeared before Orochimaru in a whirl of smoke.

"Well?" hissed Orochimaru.

"I'm sorry Lord Orochimaru-sama," responded Kabuto, "Ryuunosuke and Ryouichi could not stop her. She's gone."

Orochimaru's fist slammed into his desk, "Damn it!" he yelled.

He removed his fist from the newly formed dent in his desk. His eyes shot up to Kabuto, anger flooding them.

"Isn't there a single shinobi in this village that can do a damned thing right?!" His words poured out, his anger filled the room. "She's injured, weakened, and yet those idiots couldn't capture her!?"

"My Lord," interjected Kabuto, "Hikari is much stronger than they are. Surely you didn't expect them to capture her so easily?"

Orochimaru stood up. "Kabuto, do you really want to be sticking your neck out for those two buffoons?" After receiving no answer, Orochimaru threw his chair at the wall next to Kabuto. Kabuto didn't even flinch; he silently stood there and waited for more yelling.

Orochimaru continued, "They should have been able to apprehend her! She's coughing up blood for God's sakes!" He grabbed the bridge of his nose in frustration. After a few moments, he looked back up at Kabuto.

"Why are you still here?" Orochimaru said heatedly. With that, Kabuto disappeared again. Orochimaru turned to look out the window behind him; staring into the sky with an evil grin he thought, "I will get you back Hikari, even if I have spill blood again."

--

* * *

**Alright, obviously, the main character Hikari is someone I've made up. Hikari's character is based on someone very near and dear to me and Hikari's name came from the name of the very first art piece given to me by a close friend years ago. Expect way more original characters in future. Please review! And I'll try and update as soon as I find time. (:**


	2. So what do you say?

**Disclaimer: I do not in any way, shape, or form, own Naruto or any of its characters.**

**Here's chapter two. Don't get too excited now, it's not that much sadly. My brain just wouldn't work. Review afterwards please! (:**

* * *

Itachi glanced over at the Sound kunoichi lying asleep on his bed.

"What was the point in bringing that brat here?" Kisame asked impatiently.

Itachi turned his gaze back to Kisame, but didn't reply. He turned his head back towards his door, a few seconds later it opened, and in walked two other men, both dressed in the same style cloak as Itachi and Kisame.

The first one that walked in wore his golden hair in a high ponytail with a large chunk of bangs covering his left eye; this only made his exposed right eye of a pale blue stand out more. The man that followed had a head of dark, spiky hair. One could not distinguish facial characteristics because he seemed to have none; only a black circle, which appeared in the place of his right eye; and from it came lines that swirled to give his face the look of a small whirlpool.

"We heard you got side tracked while returning from your mission," the spiral-faced man spoke to Kisame.

"Don't look at me," Kisame replied as he pointed his finger to Itachi, "He's the one that had to make the stop."

"Who is she?" asked the blonde haired man.

The other three men turned to see the blonde sitting on the bed next to Hikari; he placed his pointer finger on the side of her mouth, and traced the trail of dried blood down her cheek.

"Her name's Hikari," said Itachi with no emotion in his tone.

"Orochimaru's kunoichi?" the blonde asked more to himself, "And the blood?"

He turned when he felt a tap on his shoulder. "That we're not sure of," Itachi replied as he handed the blonde a damp rag. "We found her unconscious in the forest a few miles away from Sound. A few yards away were two other Sound shinobi that were also unconscious."

The blonde took the rag and gently wiped the blood from the girl's cheek, his pale blue eyes taking in the look of her face. As he finished, the kunoichi began to regain consciousness.

When her eyes opened she tilted her head to the side to look at the blonde man sitting next to her, then her eyes moved to the group behind him, and finally her gaze came to lock with Itachi's. She stared at him until the blonde spoke and brought her out of her trance.

"You're awake," he said with a warm smile, "Are you hungry?"

Shocked by his pleasant manner, Hikari sat up a little only to clutch at her stomach as the pain ripped through again. She fell back down onto the pillow. "N-No thanks," she replied. Again, she turned to gaze at Itachi. "Who are you?" The question was really only intended for Itachi, but the blonde replied instead.

"I'm Deidara," he said still smiling, "That's Itachi, Kisame, and Tobi," pointing to indicate to whom the name belonged.

"The Akatsuki," she thought to herself, "This might be unpleasant..." She tried to sit up again; going more slowly this time, she managed to sit up and move to lean her back against the headboard. "What am I doing here?" she asked aloud.

Deidara didn't respond this time, instead he turned to Itachi, waiting for him to answer. Hikari turned to look at Itachi as well. Itachi just stared back at her; it was evident that he had no intention of answering.

"You should be a little more thankful brat," Kisame's voice broke the silence, and drew the attention of Hikari's eyes. He continued, "We could have just left you to die." He smiled arrogantly.

"Guh," thought Hikari mentally, "The psycho sushi expects me to thank him." She looked back to Itachi. "You're the Akatsuki, all rouge ninjas, excuse me if I'm mistaken but you guys aren't notorious for acts of kindness." Hikari crossed her arms over her chest, "What do you want from me?"

Hikari soon became irritated, seeing as her question yet again went unanswered. She turned and let her legs fall over the other side of the bed and touch the ground. She quickly stood up, and in response, the pain in her chest flared mercilessly. Her eyes squeezed tightly shut, and she cringed at the pain. Hikari quickly regained her composure as much as she could, and started to walk towards the door. She was inches away from the threshold when Itachi appeared inches in front of her, blocking her only exit. His crimson eyes looked at her with annoyance dancing in them. She felt as if his eyes were boring into every part of her, seeing parts of her character that even she had never seen.

"Leave," he said to the others without breaking his eye contact with Hikari.

The other three silently filed out of the room. Deidara was last to leave; he threw a reassuring smile Hikari's way before closing the door behind him. Hikari looked back into Itachi's eyes. After a few moments she spoke, "So you can talk?" She had intended to annoy him, but when he smirked mockingly she became annoyed herself. Her forehead wrinkled in irritation, her lips curled downwards into a frown, and she exhaled through her nose hard, a habit she had had since she was young. Kids in Sound used to compare Hikari to a mad bull whenever she got angry.

"I want to rip the smirk off his face," she thought to herself. "Are you going to give me any answer to my question?" she asked in annoyance.

Itachi remained silent, but he reached his right hand up towards Hikari's face. Her muscles stiffened, "What is he doing? She thought worriedly.

He placed the back of his hand on her cheek, and gently caressed it. Her muscles melted under his touch. It drowned her in a sense of comfort and security; a feeling foreign to her, but at the same time, it felt so familiar. Itachi finally dropped his hand from her face.

"I can see you're having violent thoughts kunoichi," he said in a suave, taunting voice. "You can't possibly believe you stand a chance against me."

When the mocking smirk painted itself on Itachi's face once more, Hikari's fist balled. In the blink of an eye her fist was flying towards Itachi's smirk. But in an even faster blink of an eye Hikari's blow was stopped, and her arm was pinned behind her back.

"She's gotten much faster since the last time I saw her," Itachi thought to himself.

In a shot of adrenaline, Hikari turned around as much as she could and threw her free fist at him. Again, Itachi stopped her blow. His red eyes stared into her hazel eyes; his eyes looked like they were laughing at her. The wrinkle in Hikari's forehead grew deeper, and she exhaled hard through her mouth to blow her bangs out of her eyes. She glared at Itachi as hard as she could, all the while, his mocking smirk never left his face.

"You're going to get wrinkles before you're 20," Itachi said suddenly.

Hikari's forehead softened, her eyes lit up in surprise, "What the hell?" she mentally said.

"As easy to surprise as ever, not much has changed about her," Itachi thought as he looked into her eyes, "She even smells the same…"

Itachi released both of her hands and walked over to the edge of his bed. He sat down, and glanced over at Hikari. Recognizing his hint, Hikari sighed and walked over to sit next to him.

"I brought you here," he began, "because I think that you'd be an exceptional addition to our group." He looked at her face, trying to find some emotion to indicate an answer he might receive.

Hikari was looking at the ground, showing no emotion on her face. After a few moments of silence, she looked up to meet his gaze.

"First," she said, Itachi eagerly listened, "can I take a shower?"

His head dropped.

Hikari frowned slightly, but then Itachi started to laugh. She stared at his head, "Has he lost it?" she said in her head. He lifted his head back up and thought to himself, "She always did amuse me." He nodded his head towards a door opposite the one she had tried to leave through earlier. "You've got 10 minutes."

Hikari sat up fast a walked over to the door, she opened it and stuck her head inside. "Eh, it's decent enough I guess," she thought. She walked in and found the shower, turning the knobs and adjusting the temperature, she heard the door close and she turned to see Itachi standing there.

"Excuse me?" she said irritated.

Itachi chuckled and plastered a cocky grin on his lips, "I don't think so. I'm not giving you any chance alone to try and pull some cute stunt to get me in trouble."

Hikari crossed her arms and frowned, "I'm not answering your offer until I get a shower," she said, attempting to persuade Itachi to leave.

"I'm not stopping you," he said, his grin widening.

Hikari glared at him, "Are you shitting me?" she thought to herself. She turned the shower off, and then turned to glare at Itachi more.

"She always looked cute when she was annoyed," he happily mused at his memories of the kunoichi before him.

After a few minutes, Itachi said, "You have about 6 minutes."

Her eyes turned into slits; Hikari was hoping that somehow flames would pour out of her eyes and burn him.

Finally, she stepped into the shower, and closed the curtains. Once she thought they were secure, she began to take off her clothes. She threw them over the curtain, purposely trying to hit Itachi with them, but doubted that ever happening. She turned the water back on, and began to shower as quickly as she could. She finished up, and turned the water off.

"God damn it!" she yelled aloud, realizing she didn't have a towel.

She stuck her head out of the curtain. Itachi still wore his cocky grin.

"Can I please have a towel?" asked Hikari as nicely as she could, but her eyes still showed her murderous intent.

"I only promised a shower. We never agreed on towels," said Itachi.

"Oh come on!" screamed Hikari. Itachi only laughed a little. "I'll just rip the curtains off and use them instead," said Hikari in a pitiful attempt to threaten a towel out of him.

Itachi's cheeks puffed out as he tried to swallow his laughter. Not being able to hold it in, his laughter filled the bathroom. After wiping a small tear from his eye, Itachi pulled out a towel from inside his cloak.

"You asshole," spat Hikari as she snatched the towel. She quickly wrapped the towel around herself and got out.

"Forgetting something?" Itachi asked.

"N-," started Hikari, but she stopped to think about it. Her palm hit her forehead when she realized she didn't have a change of clothes.

Itachi laughed again and opened the bathroom door, "Ladies first," he said.

Hikari glared at him again, and then walked out the door, back into his room. Itachi followed her out and then walked over to his dresser. Grabbing a black sleeveless shirt and some shorts, he turned and threw the clothes at her with a smile. Hikari stood up and took a few steps towards the bathroom. She stopped and looked back to see Itachi staying where he was.

"He's not following?" she asked herself.

Itachi smiled, "I think I can trust you this time—"he tried to stifle a laugh, "As long as you don't touch my shower curtains."

Hikari leaped at the opportunity and ran into the bathroom.

Itachi leaned on the wall next to his dresser, emerging himself into his thoughts.

"She doesn't seem to recognize me," his lips pursed into a hard line as he thought; "I know it's been 8 years…but still. She doesn't seem to remember anything. Orochimaru has probably tampered with her memory as he had said he would the night he took her. He was always so fixated on her, the power-hungry fool." Itachi's pursed lips turned into a frown as he thought about what that snake had done that night 8 years ago. "Even if he has messed with her memories, I know _my_ Hikari is still in there…" a small smile pulled at his lips; "I just need to help her remember. "

Itachi's mental conversation was interrupted when Hikari stepped out of the bathroom fully dressed.

A smirk spread across Itachi's face as he quickly looked her over, "Even in baggy clothes, she doesn't cease to look so appealing."

"Come on," he said as he grabbed her gently by the wrist.

He led her out the door and into a hall way.

Turning left and walking to the end of the hall to make another left, the hall opened up into a big room. Half of it looked like a dining and living room while the other half was a kitchen. In the living room, a medium sized table sat in front of a fireplace. The three sides not facing the fire place were surrounded by three small lounging sofas. Each sofa could hold two people. The sofa that was to the left of the fireplace was occupied by Deidara and Tobi, while the middle one was occupied by Kisame. Itachi led Hikari to the sofa that was to the right of the fireplace.

As they sat down, Kisame asked, "So? What'd she say?"

Deidara and Tobi both looked at her. "What'd she say to what??" asked Deidara anxiously; he always did hate feeling left out of things.

Itachi looked at Hikari, "So? What do you say to my offer?"

Hikari turned her head to look at the empty fireplace. She tried to think through each choice carefully, reviewing the benefits as well as the consequences. Hikari rarely had difficulty concentrating, but to her dismay, that moment was one of those rare ones.

She grabbed the bridge of her nose and closed her eyes to try and concentrate, but she could not. Her mind was working too fast, she sighed as she found that she couldn't calm her thoughts, they were just as racy as when she was fleeing Sound.

"What have I got to lose?" she thought to herself. Quickly answering her thoughts, she mentally said, "Nothing, I have nothing to lose, but a lot to possibly gain." At this thought, her eyes opened slightly. She continued her mental conversation, "I've left Sound, and I have nowhere to go. I need to uncover my past, and maybe joining Akatsuki could help me with that."

A small smile spread across her face, and she released the bridge of her nose.

Hikari looked up to Itachi and nodded her head, "My answer is yes."

Itachi smirked, and Deidara yelled out, "Yes to what?!"

Kisame grinned as well, "Welcome to the club kid."

Realization hit Deidara, "Ohhh!" he exclaimed.

Tobi spoke for the first time in awhile, "How are you so sure she's capable of running around with us? I know she was Orochimaru's top kunoichi and all, but that doesn't automatically make her qualified to join Akatsuki."

Kisame's grin faded. "He's right you know."

"Don't worry," said Itachi with smug confidence in his voice, "She's plenty capable."

"You still should probably test her though," offered Kisame.

Itachi looked into Hikari's eyes, "I will."

--

The group of five ventured outside. Hikari looked around to see a forest that was denser than the one surrounding Sound.

"I wonder where we are," she thought.

They walked through some trees and into a clear field that looked like it had been used for training many times. A small pond, about 60 feet wide, was at the edge of the field. Hikari's eyes followed the ripples of the water to see them originating from a small waterfall.

"Wow." She silently said. The scene before her was remarkably beautiful in a quaint sort of manner.

"Ready?" she heard Itachi ask. She followed his voice with her eyes to see that he was about 30 feet away, in the center of the field.

"Damn it," Hikari thought, "He wants to fight."

Hikari stood her ground. But she quickly told herself, "Of course he wants to fight! And I have to fight as well, if I don't, then I may blow a perfect opportunity to find my answers; make my escape from Sound worth nothing." She reluctantly walked to the center of the field to stand opposite Itachi.

She took in a deep breath, and closed her eyes. She exhaled slowly through her nose, and opened her eyes to reveal those orbs of amethyst once again.

Itachi's garnet eyes stared into her pools of amethyst.

"This should be interesting," he thought to himself.

Simultaneously, each ninja took up a ready stance.

Hikari prayed that the pain in her abdomen would not flare up this time.

"Begin!" yelled Deidara suddenly, being too anxious to keep his mouth shut.

"Here we go," said Hikari quietly; her lips pulled into a confident smile.

* * *

**Okay. I know nothing monumental really happened in this chapter, but I'm trying to think of a way to make Hikari and Itachi's battle interesting. I really do suck at writing battle chapters. But I'll try my best! Review please! I wouldn't mind a few pointers. (:**


	3. Crimson and Amethyst

**Disclaimer: I do not, in any way, shape, or form, own Naruto or any of its characters.**

**Alright, here comes my pitiful attempt at a fight scene! Please excuse any grammar/spelling errors.**

* * *

Hikari stared into Itachi's crimson eyes. She saw a smirk tug at the edges of his lips, and she readied herself for an attack. Instead, he just stood there. She saw a slight change in his eyes, and after a moment of silence, his smirk faded, and a sense of confusion clouded his features.

"What's wrong?" Itachi thought to himself. "Why won't my Tsukuyomi work on her?" His adrenaline began to flow in a panic, but he quickly calmed himself. He closed his eyes to think. "Her eyes…" he pondered, "There's something more to them; some incredible strength behind the exotic color. I wonder what Orochimaru did to her." His eyes opened again. He debated what course of action to take, seeing as his Sharingan was somehow rendered useless in Hikari's presence.

His smirk appeared once more as he thought, "Looks like I'm doing this the hard way."

His feet moved rapidly as he seemed to fly at the kunoichi.

Her figure blurred as he quickly approached her, and he was left standing where she had stood; the kunoichi was gone.

Itachi quickly turned around with a kunai in hand, barely in time to block the kunai that Hikari had lunged at him with. Her figure blurred yet again, and soon she was behind Itachi, lunging at him with her kunai again, and once more, Itachi barely managed to turn around in time to block. All of this happened in the blink of an eye.

"Her speed is truly amazing," Itachi thought to himself, "I can barely keep up." His forehead slightly wrinkled, "I can't predict her movements quickly enough." Hikari became a blur once more as he thought this.

He quickly turned to block the kunoichi and her kunai again, his eyes widened as he thought, "This one isn't her."

The kunoichi appeared behind him as he was blocking her clones' attack, and she swiftly kicked him in the back.

Itachi flew and landed about 15 feet away.

"Woah," said Deidara aloud, "It hasn't been more than 15 seconds and Hikari's already landed the first blow."

Kisame put on an arrogant smile, trying to hide his surprise at the kunoichi's speed as well, "Lucky shot," he spat.

"No one gets lucky," thought Deidara, "when they fight Itachi."

By now Itachi was on his feet, trying desperately to think of a way to break through the kunoichi's speed. He made a quick hand sign, and then Hikari was surrounded by both Itachi, and two clones.

Hikari surveyed each of the three ninja before her. "What's he up too?" she thought to herself.

A gentle breeze was the only noise around. Hikari's hair slightly blew in the wind. Her eyes smoldered with exhilaration as she waited for Itachi's next move.

Finally, one of the clones leaped out at her. Hikari quickly side-stepped the clone and threw a kunai into its back. Before the kunai completely left her fingers, Itachi's other clone had a tight grip around the kunoichi's wrist. As her kunai pierced the back of the first clone, the second had both Hikari's arms pinned behind her back.

The real Itachi stood before her, and as his first clone disappeared, Itachi lunged at Hikari with a kunai. Time seemed to stand still as Hikari thought of a way to break free of the clones' hold. A smirk appeared on her face as Itachi plunged the kunai into her stomach.

Itachi looked up into the eyes of the person his kunai had penetrated; he found himself looking into the crimson eyes of his clone.

"******Kawarimi no jutsu**," he mumbled. **(A/N: Also known as Substitution)**

Hikari was above him and thrust the heel of her foot into his back; he didn't even have time to breath after he finished his sentence.

His final clone disappeared as Itachi lied deep in the earth. Hikari stood over him and smiled wickedly as she looked down upon him.

"Too easy," she commented. She gasped and snapped her head up as she felt a presence behind her. The Itachi Hikari had just planted in the ground erupted into a cloud of smoke, and the real one behind her flashed a few hands signs, and raised two fingers to his mouth before executing his jutsu.

"Katon Goukakyuu no Jutsu," whispered Itachi before an enormous fireball flew at Hikari's back.

A couple seconds passed after the fireball made contact with the kunoichi. Itachi's hands dropped from his face as he watched the dancing flames.

In less time than a heart took to beat, a fist engulfed in lightening soared out of the ground underneath Itachi's feet; and uppercut Itachi.

He flew back and landed in a crouching position on the small pond, barely having time to use his chakra to keep himself atop the water's surface. Small cuts now adorned his face, and a small string of blood flowed from the corner of his mouth.

Hikari was soon standing opposite Itachi, a slight ripple of water danced under her feet.

"Chidori," thought Itachi as he stood up, "She always did love that technique." A smile appeared on his face.

There was no doubting it; Hikari had grown incredibly strong over the years just as _they_ had predicted. And being under the wing of Orochimaru, her strength was only augmented. Itachi could still clearly see that little girl 8 years ago, all the potential she displayed; all the high expectations people had of her in her already incomparable career as a young kunoichi, all maliciously broken by that snake.

His crimson eyes bore into her amethyst eyes, and he couldn't help but smile wider when he saw that smirk he loved so much appear on the kunoichi's lips. "She always did look cute when she got cocky," he thought to himself.

"Did you see that?!" shouted a hyper Deidara, "I bet they haven't even been fighting for two minutes!"

Kisame's arrogant smile fell to a frown.

"Wow, Hikari must be one lucky fighter, right Kisame?" Tobi commented sarcastically, making Kisame glare at him murderously.

Hikari felt confident, "I might actually be able to beat him," she thought to herself.

Her confidence quickly faded as she felt the familiar pain in her abdomen flare up.

Her eyes widened, alarming Itachi.

His smile vanished as he looked at the kunoichi, pain evident on her face.

As the pain spread throughout Hikari's body, her amethyst eyes slowly faded back to their normal hazel color. Her arms instinctively wrapped around her stomach; her breathing became wheezy. She fell onto her hands and knees. Hikari stared at her reflection in the pond.

"Not again," She thought as she gaped at the fright in the reflection of her eyes.

The coughing fit came, along with the blood she was so petrified of.

The last thing she remembered before slipping into unconsciousness was the sight of Itachi's feet running across the water towards her as she sunk under the surface.

******--**

"We have to get her to a hospital," stated Itachi as he looked over at the kunoichi, unconscious on his bed just as she had been only an hour or so before.

"No," said Kisame furiously, "You'd be exposing yourself and us if you took her to a public place."

Itachi's vicious glare focused on Kisame.

"Fish-face is right," commented Tobi in a dreary tone, "You're too recognizable, and we don't need to jeopardize our cover."

Itachi's glare turned to Tobi. His anger only grew as he realized the sense in Tobi's words.

"Wait," cried out Deidara, drawing the attention of all three men, "I've got it."

Itachi threw a questioning glance at Deidara, hoping he had a useful proposal, "What have you got?"

Deidara put on a devious smile as he grabbed Itachi's wrist; his eyes glowed vibrantly as he said, "I have the absolute perfect outfit for you!"

Kisame's eye twitched faintly as he thought to himself, "Since when was Deidara so…gay?"

Tobi sighed. "Same old Deidara," he mentally said.

--

"No. Fucking. Way!" shouted Itachi from the bathroom, emphasizing each word to communicate his rage.

"Come on," pleaded Deidara.

"No!" answered Itachi, "I look…there's no word to describe how stupid I look!"

"You're looks aren't the focus here," stated Deidara, "Our main focus is Hikari."

Deidara heard Itachi sigh, and soon the handle of the bathroom door turned.

Itachi stepped out reluctantly.

Deidara's eyes twinkled as he said, "Perfect!"

Kisame whistled at the sight of Itachi.

Itachi glowered at him as Kisame followed his wolf call with a boisterous laugh.

Itachi was clad in tight black pants with a matching tight sleeveless black shirt, both of which accentuated his slightly muscular body, and black boots.

"You look…great," said Tobi between deep fits of laughter.

Both Kisame and Tobi were wiping tears from their eyes as Itachi balled his fists, steaming angry, "Why I ought to!" He lunged for the two ninja.

Deidara jumped onto Itachi's back, trying to restrain him, "Stop it you guys!" he yelled.

Itachi had Kisame and Tobi underneath him, pinning them to the ground with a hand wrapped around both of their throats. Deidara had his arms wrapped around Itachi's neck, leaning his weight into Itachi's back to try and pull him off of the two.

Hikari began to recover consciousness. Her eyes slightly opened, and her eyes were instantly averted to the sight of all the noise.

Her eyes shot open at the sight of all the men on top of each other. Her eyes glittered and her jaw dropped in pure surprise. An earsplitting squeal erupted from Hikari. She couldn't help it, yaoi just did that to her; a shameful weakness she had.

Her balled fists came to her chin and she squealed into them. The men stopped yelling, and turned to stare at the flustered kunoichi.

"So hot!" squealed Hikari as she shook her head left and right.

Hikari's nose gushed blood as she flew back and out the window behind her, squealing all the way, even after she hit the ground with a thud. The men just stared at the broken window for a few moments, each mentally twitching.

They recovered their senses soon; Itachi and Deidara darted for the window, alarm in their eyes, and Kisame and Tobi quickly followed.

They all looked down onto the kunoichi; she wore a ridiculously large smile and a trail of fresh blood dripped from her nose; she was on her back, unconscious again.

"…" Deidara looked at Itachi, "I-I think you guys should go before she really does kill herself."

Itachi nodded his head slowly, still wide-eyed. He composed himself after a moment, and executed a transformation jutsu, altering his face and hair. He jumped out of the window, and picked up Hikari carefully, then proceeded to run into the forest.

"I wonder what her problem is…" said Deidara, "Maybe Orochimaru tortured her a little too much?"

"Naw," said Kisame, "My unfathomable sexiness was just too much for her adolescent eyes."

"…." Deidara turned to look at Kisame with a sickened expression on his face, his right eye twitching slightly.

"Personally," said Tobi suddenly, "I've seen canned tuna that looked more appealing."

Deidara fell onto the floor laughing as Kisame furiously glared at Tobi.

"What'd you say you fucked up excuse for a face?!" yelled Kisame as he balled a fist and lunged to attack Tobi.

--

Hikari's eyes slowly opened.

"Mmmm," she groaned as the bright lights of the room stung her eyes.

She looked around the white room for a moment, "I'm in a hospital?" she thought to herself.

The door opened, and in stepped a pink –haired girl. Noticing Hikari was awake; the girl smiled and said, "You're up. How are you feeling?"

"U-Uh." Hikari stuttered, looking into the girl's dark aqua eyes, "Okay I guess." A man walked in behind the pink-haired girl.

Hikari was stunned as the man smirked at her, "Itachi?" she thought to herself. Hikari brooded over the current situation in her mind.

"My name is Haruno, Sakura," the pink-haired girl disrupted Hikari's thoughts, "And I'm to oversee your care while you're here. "

"What's wrong with her exactly?" asked the man.

"I'm sorry," said Sakura, "Your name was?"

"Katsuo," replied the man.

"Well, Katsuo-san, Hikari-san cannot see any visitors at the moment, other than family that is."

"I'm her husband," replied Katsuo nonchalantly.

"Oh," Sakura said as shocked at the statement as Hikari was, "I'm sorry. Well," she looked over the papers on the clip board she had brought in, "Your wife seems to be suffering from internal bleeding, originating in her abdomen. But…" Sakura hesitated.

"Yes?" Katsuo pushed her to go on.

"The internal bleeding isn't natural," Sakura's eyes looked down, then back up to the man, "It seems to be caused by an injury that is normally sustained in a battle. A pressure point seems to have been hit hardly; the blow should have impaired her from being able to walk normally, and even moving for that matter. But it doesn't appear like it has stopped her much, so with her forcing her body to move normally, she exerted an intense amount of strain on her already strained body. The internal bleeding looks to be her body's response to all the strain."

"Mm." Katsuo took in the news, thinking it over. "Can you fix it?"

"Of course," replied Sakura, "I just can't imagine how your wife could have gotten such a harsh injury in the first place, let alone continue on normally for as long as she did."

"How long has she been like that?" Katsuo asked, arching an eyebrow.

"I can only approximate," said Sakura, "but it looks to be about two months, four at the most."

Katsuo's eyes widened in shock, and both he and Sakura turned to look at Hikari.

"Uhh." Was all Hikari could say.

"I know it's not my place to ask Hikari-san," Sakura walked to sit in the chair by Hikari, "but how could you get such an injury?"

Hikari's hazel eyes locked onto Sakura's dark aqua ones, she saw that the medical ninja truly did care. Hikari averted her eyes to the wall behind Sakura, trying to think of a convincing story.

"I-I," she began to speak as a story took form in her mind, "I was just walking down some street at about seven in the evening, I'd always taken night walks, when I heard some muffled screams. I ran up to the corner, and looked down the alley to see a man on top of a woman. He looked as if he were trying to rape her. I shouted out, telling him to leave her alone. And that's when he attacked me, jabbing his hand into my abdomen." Hikari put a hand on her stomach.

Sakura's eyes looked at her as if to apologize for such an incident occurring.

"Oh." Sakura spoke, "I forgot to mention. Hikari-san also has a minor concussion. Unlike the internal bleeding, it looks to be very recent—"

"When can she leave?" Katsuo interrupted.

Sakura turned to look at him. "Well, after we relieve her pressure point, she needs to stay for the night. And probably one more day for observation, to ensure that she heals properly."

Katsuo nodded, and then turned his head to the door as it opened.

A tall woman, with blond hair separated into two pigtails that trailed down her back, walked in. Dark amber eyes made the painted diamond on her forehead stand out. But what stood out the most about the woman were her unusually large—

"Tsunade-sama!" Sakura stood to greet the woman. "What brings you here?"

The woman looked over Katsuo, and then focused her attention on the girl lying in the bed. One eye brow arched, "She looks…familiar." She try tried to file through her memory, looking for a name to put with the face. Sakura's voice disrupted her thoughts, "Oh. I'm just dropping by for a surprise inspection."

"Tsunade-sama…" Sakura's head dropped. "She never drops by like this without wanting something," she thought to herself. She sat up and turned to Hikari, "Excuse me," she smiled warmly, "I just need to speak with her for a few minutes." Sakura faced Tsunade, and the two left the room, leaving Hikari and Katsuo alone.

Hikari looked over to see Katsuo leaning against the wall with his eyes closed. "Katsuo?" she asked. His eyes opened and his head looked up to meet her gaze.

"Where'd you come up with that name?" Hikari continued with a smirk.

He smiled and pushed off from the wall, walking over to sit on the bed with Hikari. "I'm not the one that had to go and cough up blood," his eyes looked down for a moment, then lifted back up to her face, "right when I was about to beat you I might add," a smirk on his face again.

"Pffft." Hikari rolled her eyes.

Itachi smiled at her, "You had me worried there," he said in a soothing tone.

Hikari's eyes showed some surprise in response to his words, "He can't be serious," she thought to herself, "Uchiha Itachi, the so-called murderer of the Uchiha clan, _cares_?"

"Now," he said, "How did you _really_ get your pressure point so messed up?"

Hikari sighed, "Apparently I wasn't convincing enough," she thought.

"I was on a mission in Konohagakure about three months ago," she started, "Simple reconnaissance mission, but someone got in my way. I had to fight. I defeated them, but not before they did this," she put her hand on her abdomen.

Itachi looked down at the hand she had placed on her stomach, then back up at her.

"Would you recognize them again?" he asked.

"No," Hikari replied distantly as she recalled that night, "It was pitch black, I had to sense their chakra to fight them."

Hikari sighed, and placed her hand back by her side, "I can't believe I'm stuck here for two days."

Itachi's hand slowly moved across the sheets until his fingertips touched hers, and then he placed his hand fully on hers, "I'll be right here," he said.

Hikari couldn't help but smile; she then thought, "I wonder why he's being so…nice." She quickly shrugged the thought from her mind, deciding that it wouldn't be wise to bring it up. She did, though, look down at Itachi's hand around hers; a few minutes later, she slipped into a peaceful sleep.

--

A rustling noise caused Hikari to wake up. She looked to her side and saw Sakura injecting a fluid into Hikari's I.V. tube.

Sakura noticed the girl stir and looked down at her, "Did you have a good sleep Hikari-chan?" A tender smile decorated her face.

Hikari smiled back and nodded. She surveyed the room, then asked, "Where's Ita—, Katsuo-kun?"

"He had to be sent to the waiting room," Sakura sat on the side of Hikari's bed, "Visitors aren't allowed in the room while the medics are healing a patient, even if they're family. "

"What's my prognosis?" Hikari asked teasingly, "How long am I for this world?"

Sakura laughed, "You'll be just fine. You can leave tomorrow afternoon."

Once again, Hikari looked around the room, "Where are my clothes?" she asked, "Please don't tell me a nurse threw them away!" panic filled her voice, "Those are the only clothes I have." Realizing she'd said too much Hikari shut her mouth before she could say more.

Sakura's eyes widened slightly, "You're not serious," she said. "Well," her eyes looked around the room for no particular reason, "I guess I'll just have to take you shopping then." A smile spread across her face.

Hikari arched an eyebrow, "Really? I assumed patients weren't allowed to leave the hospital unless they were first discharged."

"Well." Sakura tapped her finger on the bed, the smirk on her face widened, "It's okay for patients to leave the building under the supervision of a medical ninja."

Hikari had already taken the I.V. out of her arm and was climbing out of the bed, "Let's get out of here then!"

Sakura reached in the drawer of the small table next to the bed, taking out Hikari's black apparel and handing it to her, she asked, "What about your husband?"

"What about him?" asked Hikari as she slipped her shorts on under her hospital gown.

"Well," Sakura blushed a little, "He just looks kind of, well…those pants and…the nurses and other girls in the waiting room look like they're ready to attack him.

Hikari laughed as she pulled her shirt over her head. "You could say I'm kind of used to that. Besides, don't let those hot pants fool you, Katsuo-kun is stronger than he looks, I'm sure he can handle himself." Hikari grabbed Sakura's hand and dragged her out the door, "Let's go!"

* * *

**Yeah, I know; this chapter isn't as well written as I made it out to be. You try writing while sweating to death! Darn this heat! I don't think the next few chapters are going to be anything really important; I'm just going to introduce a few other characters, and whatever else I think of . I'm going to try and plan things out a little more so the next few chapters have some important parts in them. Please review! (:**


	4. Konohagakure

**Disclaimer: I do not, in any way, shape, or form, own Naruto or any of its characters.**

**This one has to be my longest chapter yet. I hope it isn't too boring! I'm finding that all of my chapters pale in comparison to my first one. I hope this one is good. (:**

* * *

Hikari raced out of the hospital's front doors, dragging Sakura behind her. Hikari's eyes smoldered with delight as she looked around at the city before her. As her eyes trailed up to see the grand mountain with faces carved in it, a feeling of familiarity surged through her mind.

Hikari turned to face Sakura, "Sakura-chan?" Sakura's eyes gave Hikari their attention, "Where am I exactly?"

Sakura seemed a little surprised at her question, but answered, "Konohagakure, why?"

"Mmm." Hikari's gaze turned back towards the mountain as she became lost in her thoughts, forgetting to answer Sakura.

"Sakura-chan!!" a voice came from behind.

Hikari turned to see a blonde, blue-eyed boy about the same age as her, running towards the pink-haired girl from behind. Sakura had barely turned to face the boy when he collided with her, and they both fell onto the ground.

"Naruto!" the girl's voice was filled with rage, and her facial features were flooded with murderous intent, "Watch where you're going you bastard!"

Hikari was taken aback by her words, "I thought she was too nice for such anger. That pink hair really does throw a person off."

Naruto lifted himself off of Sakura, "Sorry Sakura-chan." He began to rub the back of his head with a sheepish grin on his lips.

Sakura stood up and started brushing the dirt off of herself. Naruto's gaze turned to Hikari.

"Who're you?" he asked.

Still somewhat shocked from Sakura's outburst, Hikari replied, "Uh-h, Hik-Hikari."

"Let's go Hikari," Sakura grabbed the girl's arm and started walking in the opposite direction, "Naruto is an idiot, don't mind him."

"Hey, hey!" Naruto caught up with the girls, "In my defense," Naruto smirked at Hikari, "Sakura is a real bitch half of the time."

Sakura turned to face Naruto, a vein protruding from her forehead in anger, "Do you have some kind of death wish asshole!?"

Naruto raised his hands up, palms forward in a defensive position, "Wha-? It's not my fault you girls get so bitchy once a month."

Hikari turned to face Naruto, slightly angry herself, "Well, we wouldn't get so bitchy if you boys weren't so brainless! God, if you guys would just keep your mouth shut, so many fights would be avoided. Girls can only put up with so much stupidity!"

Sakura's anger melted and her eyes widened in shock at Hikari's outburst. Naruto's mouth dropped a little in shock as well.

Hikari regained her composure, and let her anger fade before speaking again, "Can we please g—"

Her words were interrupted when a growl rumbled from her stomach. She placed a hand on her stomach, mentally telling it to shut up.

"Let' get some food first," Sakura suggested with a giggle.

Naruto grabbed each girl by the wrist and yelled, "Ramen time!" before running down a street, dragging Hikari and Sakura behind.

--

"I wonder if he's single." a random girl commented.

"He's too hot, he has to be gay," said another.

"Oh my gosh! I think he looked at me!" squealed another with delight.

Itachi let out a loud sigh, and put his hands in his face.

"This is for Hikari," he thought, "You can take it a little while longer."

When he let his hands drop from his face, he saw a group of girls in front of him.

They quickly turned to stop staring at him, and squealed to each other.

"Damn girls," thought Itachi, "They'll squeal at anything in tight pants. I'm going to kill Deidara."

He sighed again and stood up from his seat. He walked up to the counter and tapped on the wood.

"Excuse me, miss?" he saw a cluster of girls form a few feet behind him out of the corner of his eye. When one nurse came up to the front of the desk his attention turned to her.

"Y-yes?" her cheeks were a bright red as she put her glasses on.

"God," thought Itachi, "These girls are all the same."

"Could I please go see my wife? Hikari?" he answered.

He heard a disappointed "Aw," from the cluster of girls behind him, and they soon dispersed, dragging themselves back to their seats groaning.

The nurse also seemed a little disappointed.

"I'm sorry sir, but I cannot allow any visitors right now." The nurse wore a satisfied look.

Itachi rolled his eyes slightly, "You've got to be joking," he thought. His lips formed into a cocky smile; as he leaned onto the desk, placing his face close enough to the nurse so she could feel his breath.

"Please?" he asked in a suave voice, "It'd disappoint me so very much if I couldn't see my wife, just one last time. The doctor says she doesn't have very long to live."

The nurse's entire face was glowing crimson, "I-I, can't…allow…" she could feel heart beating so hard; she was worried that he could hear it.

"Just 5 minutes?" Itachi said, leaning a little closer, "Please?"

The nurse's glasses were fogged over by now, she couldn't even speak. She just nodded her head.

Itachi smiled seductively, "Thanks."

He quickly walked down the hall, "Jeez, I hate girls with jelly-spines." He sort of laughed to himself as he thought, "At least Deidara's pants were good for something." He gently knocked on Hikari's door.

"Sweetie?" he said in a very charming but sarcastic tone. When he got no answer he opened the door.

His jaw dropped as he stared at the empty bed. His senses came back a moment later. He turned and ran out the door, "Damn it!" he mumbled to himself, "I should have never let that Haruno chick talk me into leaving her alone!"

As he ran through the waiting room and out the door, he heard multiple gasps from the girls, followed by squeals.

He stopped on the road in front of the hospital, "Where could she have gone?" He panicked even more when he began to realize, "If anyone recognizes her…" his heart nearly stopped as he thought, "They'll take her away…"

He brought himself to the roof of the hospital, and looked down onto Konoha, desperately searching for Hikari.

"I won't let anyone take her away," he thought as fury built up inside of him, "Not again." He balled his fists, and then jumped from the roof, and began darting from rooftop to rooftop.

--

Naruto had dragged the kunoichi to his favorite ramen shop.

"Ichiraku Ramen?" Hikari asked as they took a seat.

"Yeah yeah!" exclaimed Naruto excitedly, "This place has the best ramen!"

Hikari's eyes locked with Naruto's for a moment. She shrugged, and then commented, "Food is food. I've never been one to judge, it all tastes good to me."

Naruto smirked, and then turned to a man and ordered three bowls of ramen, then turned back to Hikari.

"So what's your story?" he asked.

"What do you mean?" Hikari asked confused by how vague his question was.

"Well for one," Naruto started, "Where are you from? I mean, I know everyone here in Konoha, and I've never seen you around here. And trust me; I'd remember a pretty thing like you." He put on a cocky grin with his last statement.

Hikari rolled her eyes and mumbled, "I doubt you have the brain capacity for that."

"Huh?" asked Naruto.

"U-Uh." Hikari started, "Well, truth be told, I don't really know where I'm from. I was found alone 8 years ago, and I've never really been able to remember my life before then."

Naruto and Sakura both leaned in closer, their interest being peaked.

"Really?" asked Naruto, "Don't you have any family?"

Hikari felt a slight twinge of pain in her heart when she processed both his statement and her reply, "I-I," she looked down at the counter and fiddled with her fingers, "I'm not sure."

Naruto recognized the pain he saw in her eyes; when he looked at her, he envisioned himself as a child; lonely.

"Well," started Naruto awkwardly, trying to change the conversation, "At least you have friends like me and Sakura-chan."

A wave of surprise swept over Hikari, but then she smiled and nodded her head.

Before anymore was said, a bowl of steaming ramen was placed in front of each of them.

Naruto rubbed his palms together in excitement, "Oh boy, oh boy."

All three of them began to eat, about halfway through their meal, Hikari broke the silence, "So," she began, "you two are ninjas right?" Her eyes looked up at Naruto's ninja headband.

Naruto slightly tugged at his headband and said, "Believe it!" A large smile spread across his face, "And I'm going to be Hokage one day!"

"As if," commented Sakura indifferently.

Naruto glared at the pink-haired kunoichi.

"You're training as a medical ninja right Sakura-chan?" asked Hikari.

Sakura smiled and nodded, "I'm Tsunade-sama's apprentice."

"Wow," replied Hikari before stuffing some more ramen into her mouth. After swallowing Hikari commented, "That's great; training so hard so as to be able to help people. I always did admire medical ninjas, they're so important despite the fact that they don't participate in combat often. I mean, they're like the keystone of a good ninja team, without them, the entire team would probably fail." Hikari's thoughts trailed to the snowy-haired medical ninja she had always looked up to in Sound.

"What about you Hikari-chan? Are you a ninja" Naruto asked.

Inside, Hikari was slightly alarmed at his question, but her eyes held no panic as she thought of a way to answer him.

"You could say I've learned a few jutsu here and there," she replied with a smile, hoping he wouldn't notice that she had dodged his question.

They all finished their ramen before speaking again.

"What kind of jutsu?" Naruto asked.

"Eh," Hikari shrugged, "nothing special. I don't like fighting anyways."

Naruto seemed a little shocked, "But fighting is so much fun!"

Hikari's muscles tensed slightly.

The kunoichi never did like to physically fight much. She avoided conflict as much as possible. The only reason she would usually _seriously_ hurt another person would be because they had threaten someone or something precious to her. Sure, she'd punch guys, not like she was sexist or anything, just that guys brought her temper out more than women; and if she ever punched a guy, it wasn't very hard, just enough to show them that she wasn't someone to be messed with.

She'd never had a bad experience with conflicts herself, none that she could remember that is, but she saw what war and fighting did to people. It turned them into monsters, and it left so many other innocent people hurt. Nothing good ever came out of conflict, only more hurt, and more reasons for even more conflict to take place.

"Naruto," she started with a somber tone, "have you ever seen…the toll fighting takes? Not on the fighter, but the people that care about that fighter? Have you ever seen a mother that's lost a child, husband, family member, to a fight? Have you ever lost someone close to you, because of a fight? Fighting isn't fun, not the way I see it."

Naruto's energetic smile faded as Hikari's words registered in his mind. He thought about his raven-haired friend Sasuke; how he had abandoned his village and friends to gain power…to fight. Naruto came out of his thoughts as Hikari spoke once more.

"I'm not saying that you should stand by while people get hurt Naruto," Hikari began again; "I'm just saying that fighting just for the sake of fighting isn't noble or courageous; Fighting to protect people important to you, that's noble. But fighting just to kill, just because it's something to pass the time…do you think the Hokage carved into that mountain got to be the Hokage because all they did was fight? I don't believe so. Of course they fought, but I mean, they fought to protect their village, and all the people they loved so much in the village."

Naruto looked down at the counter, staring at the palms of his hands with a sort of sad look about him.

Hikari giggled a little, "I'm sorry Naruto-kun. I talk too much, I know. You just happened to bring up a subject I love to debate about. I'm really sorry for the lecture." She rubbed the back of her head with an awkward smile on her face.

Naruto looked back up at her, "Naw, you're completely right. And I want to be like that; fight for people important to me. Like Kakashi-sensei, Granny Tsunade, Sakura-chan, all my other friends, and you, Hikari-chan." A child-like smile conveyed the truth in his words.

Hikari was a little surprised at his mentioning of her, "You sure do make friends easily Naruto-kun."

"Well," Naruto started, feeling odd, he never did act so sensitive-like around people. He quickly thought up an excuse, "you know what they say, big boobs are very attractive."

Hikari's smile faded. Both Sakura and Hikari were glaring at the blonde, "Naruto!" they both screamed.

Naruto seemed to crumble inside, and then he began to run as Sakura and Hikari chased him.

They were running through the streets, and Naruto quickly summoned a clone. Coming to a break in the one-way street, one Naruto ran left, while the other went right. Sakura and Hikari exchanged glances and nodded before they split up to pursue one of the Narutos for themselves.

After what seemed like running for 20 minutes, Hikari caught up behind Naruto. She quickly preformed a substitution jutsu with a small rock that was about 10 feet in front of Naruto. His blue eyes went wide as the kunoichi appeared in front of him. Hikari landed a punch right on his face, and upon contact a smirk pulled at her lips.

Her smile quickly faded as Naruto burst into a cloud of smoke.

"So Sakura got the real Naruto? I hope she beats the shit out of him!" Hikari yelled aloud.

Surprised by the sound of her echo, she looked around to see an empty district.

"Where am I?" she whispered.

--

"Naruto!" Sakura yelled, only a few feet behind the blue-eyed boy.

"Shit!" Naruto thought, "Too close!" He tried to force his legs to move faster.

Sakura stopped for a moment, and quickly thrust her fist into the ground, causing it to crumble. The rupture caused Naruto to fall flat onto his face, just as she had planned. But, the quake had also caught the attention of someone else nearby.

The silver-haired man was leaning against the wall of a building, with his nose stuck in a book. His silver hair spiked against the force of gravity, and one could only see his right gray eye because the rest was covered by a combination of a face mask and his ninja headband.

Upon feeling the quake, he closed his book with a sigh, and pushed off the wall to go investigate. He turned the corner and saw his two pupils, fighting again. Sakura had Naruto pinned to the ground, and she was kicking him continually. The man sighed again.

"Sakura! Naruto!" he yelled.

His two students froze, and looked up, "Y-Yes, Kakashi-sensei?" they asked sheepishly.

Kakashi crouched down to look at Naruto, "What did you do now Naruto-kun?"

Naruto's eyes widened, "Why do you suggest that I did anything?! It was Sakura and Hikari-chan that got so touchy!"

Kakashi's eyes widened and he felt his heart skip a beat. "Hik-..." he couldn't get the words out.

"Naruto was rude to my patient sensei!" whined Sakura.

"Wha-," Kakashi still couldn't speak.

"H-Hika...Hikari-chan?" he thought to himself, "There's no way, there's just no way."

"Where is this girl you were talking about??" asked Kakashi anxiously as he found his voice.

"Umm." Sakura placed a finger to her chin and looked up at the sky, "She ran after Naruto's clone. I'm pretty sure they were heading to the Uchiha district."

A slightly strong burst of air caught Naruto and Sakura off guard, their sensei was no longer with them, but was running towards the Uchiha district of Konoha.

"I wonder what got into him…" commented Naruto.

--

Itachi was racing from rooftop to rooftop, scanning the streets below him.

"Where the hell are you?" he asked himself, hoping that if he asked enough he would receive an answer. His crimson eyes carefully took in each and every face on the street below, and he only got angrier as he saw that none of them were Hikari's.

His thoughts began to wander back to that night 8 years ago.

_The sky was completely clouded over with hints of an impending storm. _

_Itachi lay on his back and gazed up into the black sky, exhausted after another mission. Being an ANBU captain really sucked the fun out of being a teenager. But, no matter how trivial and boring the work of a captain was, he always did have a small gleam of hope to look forward to. She always kept him going, on every mission, his anticipation of seeing her smile again pushed him forward. _

_It wasn't like him at all, to be so warm and kind to a person. But that girl, she just brought out a whole different side of him. There was no need to hide his emotions; there was no need to wear his mask, not with her around._

_He smirked to himself._

_People thought it was odd that a 13 year old boy would spend so much time with an 8 year old kunoichi, a child. No one saw her the same way that he did. They saw her as a strong kunoichi that, with much training, would one day be a very useful military tool. People thought her to be a hateful and selfish child for often refusing to fight. Everyone treated her harshly for wasting all her talent; they all called her a failure as a shinobi of the Land of Fire, a disappointment to her people. _

"_Hikari-chan," he thought as he heard thunder roll in the distance. _

_Only her parents understood, of course they did, they were her parents. They were slightly disappointed that she wouldn't engage in battle to further her career as a kunoichi, but they loved her nonetheless. _

_True, Hikari was a child, but she was intellectually farther in years. She was always such a comfort to talk to. Itachi sought her company whenever he felt burdened by his duties both as an ANBU captain and as the so-called pride of the Uchiha clan. She was his only release from the pressure, and he felt that his company did the same for her. They both took the load off of each other, and through that, their love was sparked. _

_Itachi sat up as he noticed a small fire in the distance. _

"_Hikari's home is in that area." He was already racing towards the fire before he finished this thought. _

_Upon arriving, Itachi felt a part of him die inside as he looked upon the spectacle of Hikari's house burning to the ground. _

_Without thinking, Itachi raced into the flaming house, shouting Hikari's name. He knocked over the burning remains of the door to their living room, and saw the bodies of two people. He was repulsed as he observed how brutally and inhumanly the man and woman had been murdered. _

_Itachi raced outside upon hearing a scream, leaving the bodies of Hikari's parents in the flames. _

_Outside the house, he saw two dark figures; one that was of a man and the other…_

"_Hikari-chan!" he yelled. _

_But it was too late; the man had her in his arms. A bolt of lightning flashed above head, revealing an unconscious Hikari in the arms of a sinister looking smile, with a pair of gleaming yellow eyes. _

_With his Sharingan active, Itachi leapt at the figure with his Hikari-chan in his arms, but was stopped short. _

_The man had put a kunai knife to Hikari's throat threateningly, and Itachi dared not take another step, refusing to risk Hikari's life. _

_The man smiled and said, "Itachi-kun, don't be mad at me. Hikari-chan will be more useful in my hands, Konohagakure is not suited for such a powerful little girl; I'm only looking out for her well-being." _

"_Then leave her with me!" Itachi yelled at the pair of yellow eyes. _

"_She won't remember you; I don't plan on forcing her to live with such painful memories. Believe me when I tell you, Hikari-chan will be much happier with me. " _

_The man smiled once more. A bolt of lightning flashed again, and when the lightening retreated back into the clouds, the man was gone…along with Hikari._

_Itachi fell to his knees; tears began to stream down his cheeks. As if to mourn with the boy, the clouds began to pour rain. Itachi beat the wet ground underneath him crying and yelling. His Hikari-chan was gone; his joy, his happiness, his heart, they were all gone. _

Itachi's crimson eyes flared with determination, "I won't let that happen, never again." He ran faster.

--

Hikari walked through the empty street, looking at the red and white symbol that was hung everywhere in the form of flags and posters. She came to stop at a door to one of the houses. She didn't know why, but she was compelled to enter.

She walked around the inside of the house, down every hallway, looked into every room. She felt a familiar air about the house. Each room seemed to hit a chord in her memories, leaving a sense of past

events to resonate through her. She walked into the remnants of a kitchen, a vision flashed through her mind.

_She saw a smiling dark-haired woman preparing a meal on the counter. _

_The woman turned to her and smiled warmly, "Hikari-chan," she said, "Are you looking for Itachi-kun?" _

The vision drifted out of her mind, and she turned to depart from the house.

She stepped out the door and stood in the middle of the silent street. She put her palm to her forehead, confused and dazed by the feelings that the house stirred in her. She stared at the ground, trying to force the memories into her mind.

She snapped out of her trance when she felt the presence of another chakra not too far from her. She looked up to see a silver-haired man jump down from a rooftop to stand about 20 feet away from her.

She stared at his exposed right eye; the mixture of emotions that single eye portrayed captured her.

She felt her heart rate increase, "Why does he look so familiar?" she thought to herself.

The man known as Kakashi took a stepped forward, "H-Hikari-chan?" he said in an awestruck tone.

Hikari felt her heart stop at the sound of her name, "He sounds so familiar." She thought. She didn't know why, but a tear escaped from her eye, and slide down her cheek. As the single tear hit the ground, Hikari turned her head. She felt the presence of yet another chakra, this one was stronger though.

"There she is!" Itachi said to himself. He felt a sense of dread befall him as he saw Kakashi standing across from her. "I have to get her out of there," he raced towards her faster than the blink of an eye.

As Kakashi saw the man race towards Hikari, he ran to protect her, but was left standing where she had once stood.

Itachi had gotten to her first, and was soon running away with her in his arms. Hikari watched as the figure of the silver-haired man shrunk into the distance.

Kakashi stared at the two shrinking figures. He couldn't decide whether the sight of Hikari after all these years caused him joy or worry.

"Maybe…" he thought, "Maybe it wasn't her."

He shook his head, trying to clear the denial from his mind.

"But why?" he said, "Why after 8 years? All of a sudden? It doesn't make sense."

He pushed his hand into his vest, and removed a chain necklace he hid under his shirt. Attached was a square pendant. Kakashi smoothed over the square with his thumb, before opening it to reveal the picture he had held onto all these years. He looked at the small girl in the picture, the wide beam

plastered on her face. Surrounded by her parents and Kakashi; he sighed and hated thinking how things could never be as happy as they were then.

After his mind resurfaced from his memories, he closed the lid to the pendant and slid it back down his shirt.

"I have to go inform Lady Hokage." And with that, he disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

* * *

**Well, there you have it. I tried to mix in some drama there, and before anyone gets their panties in a wad, this isn't going to be a KakaXOC thing. You'll find out the role Kakashi plays in all of this in the next chapter. The next chapter should explain a lot more things; I hope I don't make it too boring though! Anyways, please review! (:**


	5. Snakes and blood

**Disclaimer: I do not, in any way, shape, or form, own Naruto or any of its characters.**

**Alright, in this chapter you'll see what Kakashi's role with Hikari is. I do feel like I'm making things go fast, but I can't force myself to string things out longer than they should be. Enjoy, and please review afterwards!**

* * *

Itachi finally came to a stop somewhere in the forest surrounding Konohagakure. He looked around anxiously, with his grip tight around Hikari.

"Itachi!" Hikari whined, "What was that for?"

He looked down at the girl in his arms, another vision from the past flashed before him as his crimson eyes met with her hazel orbs. He sighed, and then released her from his arms.

He sat down on the ground, and leaned his back against a tree. He rubbed his forehead with his hand, massaging it with his painted finger tips.

"Why is nothing ever simple when it comes to this girl?" he thought to himself.

Hikari sat down onto her knees next to Itachi, "Who was that man?" she asked.

Itachi turned slightly to flash his angry crimson eyes at her. He couldn't hold onto the rage for long, just like old times, Hikari's questioning gaze washed out any and all of his negative feelings. But despite that fact, he couldn't tell her the truth, not completely.

"You've never heard of Konoha's Copy Ninja?" he started.

Hikari nodded her head, "I have. But sensei always avoided talking about him much; jealous or something."

"It doesn't matter, we're leaving." Itachi said abruptly as he rose to his feet.

"No!" Hikari burst out frantically. When Itachi's questioning glance showed a flare of anger, Hikari quickly came up with an excuse, "I want to at least finish my shopping trip with Sakura-chan."

Itachi's anger sparked again, "You had me worried sick, running blindly all over that damned town, for a fucking shopping trip!?"

Hikari's anger began to flare up as well, "What are you, my mother?!" She moved to sit cross legged with her back to him, and crossed her arms over her chest in frustration.

She felt some slight regret when she heard a heavy sigh fall from his lips, but she kept her ground and her forehead wrinkled in response; she exhaled hard through her nose and focused her angry gaze on a random bush in front of her.

Itachi appeared in front of her, crouching to put his face level with hers. She let her angry orbs lock with his, and she exhaled through her nose again when she saw the smirk he wore.

Itachi extended his hand, and poked her forehead with his fingertip. "Hikari-chan," he said softly.

The wrinkles on her forehead smoothed over, but the anger remained in her eyes. She spun around to let her back face him once more.

Itachi smiled as he thought, "As stubborn as always." He continued aloud, "You can't blame me Hikari-chan, I was worried, and surely you can understand that."

"Of course I can understand," Hikari said, "I just don't understand _why_. You don't know me, and since when did the self-proclaimed murderer of the Uchiha clan care about anyone enough to worry about them?"

Her words stung him; surely she didn't believe him to be a cold-hearted murderer? He couldn't blame her though; it was the title he wore willingly, even if it was a false one. And besides, she didn't remember him, but most of all, she didn't remember their past together.

Itachi sighed and stood up, "I'll take you shopping as soon as we get home."

Hikari turned slightly, arching her eye brow. But she quickly turned back around as she saw the smirk painted on Itachi's face. Hikari was not about to let him win that easily.

A rustling noise came from a bush not too far from them. Hikari's eyes moved to the bush, but before she could see what was hiding inside, Itachi was in front of her ready to defend.

He watched the bush anxiously with his crimson eyes, and after a moment, a wild baby rabbit ran out of the bush.

Hikari fell backwards, holding her stomach while laughing wildly. Itachi sighed and sat down, leaning against the tree once more.

"You should have seen your face!" yelled Hikari between laughing fits. She sat up and said, "Big, scary bunny!" Hikari stuck her pointer fingers up behind her head, imitating a rabbit's ears. "Rawr!" She jumped up to stand in front of Itachi. When Itachi glanced up at her, Hikari could literally see his anger jump out of his eyes at her. She quickly fell back, but continued to laugh. She finally sat up and wiped a tear from her eye.

Itachi stared at the ground as the crimson slowly flushed away from his black orbs, ignoring the kunoichi, until another rustle came from the bush.

His black eyes looked at the bush, as did Hikari's hazel eyes.

A snake slithered out from the bush, causing a scream to burst forth from Hikari.

Hikari jumped onto Itachi, trying to get away from the snake.

"What the hell?!" yelled Itachi in surprise as the kunoichi climbed onto him.

"Kill it! Don't let it get near me! Kill it!!" Hikari yelled shaking Itachi by his collar back and forth.

As the snake slithered away, Hikari was left sitting on Itachi's lap, still breathing heavily and shaking slightly.

A few moments of silence passed, and Itachi began to laugh. "A snake?" he asked, "Are you joking?"

Hikari was still too petrified to talk.

A devious smile spread across Itachi's face. He took his pointer finger and lightly trailed up Hikari's spine, hissing low like a snake.

Oh yeah, she freaked. Hikari screamed bloody murder, rose to her feet, and ran as fast as she could. She got about 20 feet before tripping on a rock, and planted her face into the ground.

Itachi walked up next to her silently as she lied twitching on the ground. Hikari heard a sound like he was choking, but her worry faded upon hearing his laughter.

"God! You're too funny!" Itachi bent over with his arms wrapped around his stomach. He heard Hikari mumble something. "What was that?" he asked as he wiped the tears from his eyes, chuckling still. Hikari lifted her face from the ground, "I hope you choke!" she yelled at him. Itachi only laughed harder.

"What?" Hikari asked annoyed.

"Your face!" Itachi could barely speak the words. He sat down next to her and calmed his laughter. "Come here." He said with a slight chuckle. Hikari sat up and scooted over to him. Itachi took a rag from inside his coat and wiped the dirt off of her face. Hikari looked up at him angrily. "What now?" he asked amused.

Before Hikari answered, another rustle was heard. Hikari screamed out of instinct, thinking it was another serpent. She jumped onto Itachi once more, yelling hysterically, "Kill it! Kill it please!"

Itachi only laughed, "You freaked the birds out."

"R-Really?" Hikari stuttered as she looked around.

Overhead, she saw a flock of birds flying. "Oh," she said.

Hikari was still scared stiff; she turned to face Itachi, only to see the trail of blood that slid down his cheek. She had hit his face when she jumped onto him out of fear.

Hikari felt her stomach twist into a knot as she stared at the scarlet liquid that had horrified her since childhood; and with that, she passed out onto Itachi's chest.

Itachi sat there for a moment, surprised, "Snakes _and_ blood?" he thought.

He wrapped his arms around the kunoichi and laid his cheek onto her head, "You're such a baby, Hikari-chan." He whispered into her hair.

--

The blonde-haired woman sat at her desk, reading over some more papers. She sighed.

"Why did that patient look so familiar?" she thought to herself, unable to concentrate.

She turned to look out her window. Her gaze was suddenly drawn to a large group of birds flying out of the forest. "What the—" she thought to herself.

A knock sounded, and compelled her amber eyes to look away from her window. "Come in." she said as she swiveled her chair to face the door.

In walked the silver-haired ninja, "Excuse me Lady Hokage."

"Yes Kakashi-san?" asked Tsunade as she propped one elbow on the desk and placed her chin in the palm of her hand.

Kakashi closed the door behind him, and walked up to the desk.

"Have you seen her?" he asked somberly.

"Why are you always so vague Kakashi?" Tsunade asked slightly annoyed.

"The girl." He replied, "The dirty blonde-haired patient in Sakura's care."

Tsunade looked up at Kakashi, "I have," she said. "She does seem familiar, but I haven't asked Sakura-chan her name yet."

"Hikari," stated Kakashi, still showing indifference in his eye.

Tsunade's eyes widened slightly, "You mean?"

Kakashi simply nodded.

"But," started Tsunade as she tried to process her thoughts, "Hikari died…she and her parents, they burned along with their house; that couldn't have been her."

"I know," said Kakashi. He walked behind Tsunade's desk and looked out the window.

"How could she have escaped the fire while her parents could not?" Tsunade asked. "And how could she go on living undetected for 8 years. Why would she randomly show up here after so long?"

Kakashi stayed silent during Tsunade's string of questions.

"Where is she now Kakashi?" she asked.

"I don't know." He said, "I found her wandering in the Uchiha district. I tried to get her, but someone else got her first. They're gone now."

"So," Tsunade started, "she's being held captive?"

"I-I," Kakashi was feeling somewhat overwhelmed, so many things had unfolded; so many questions had been brought up. "I'm not sure," he sighed.

Tsunade sighed too, "We can't do anything about it. We don't know the details, and so until then, we'll just have to wait."

The silver-haired man simply nodded.

"I'm sorry, Kakashi-san," said Tsunade quietly, "I know it must be hard, after so long."

Kakashi remained silent; he put his hands in his pockets, and stared out the window onto the city.

Right when the waters had seemed to calm down, another stone was hurled into it, disrupting its peace, and sending ripples throughout everything, bringing back the past to haunt Kakashi once more.

--

Sakura walked back into Hikari's hospital bedroom.

"I wonder why sensei got so worked up. Maybe he knows Hikari-chan," she thought to herself.

She looked at the bed and noticed a folded paper lying on the pillow.

_Sakura-chan, thank you so much for taking care of me; you're truly a gifted medical ninja. I'm sorry about missing our shopping trip, but I'm needed elsewhere. Take care of yourself Sakura-chan, and tell Naruto-kun that I know he'll make a great Hokage one day. –Hikari_

Sakura's shoulders drooped in disappointment. "I was looking forward to spending more time with Hikari-chan," she whined aloud.

She folded the paper and put it in her pocket. She turned to leave but was stopped by Kakashi's figure blocking her exit.

She was surprised to see her sensei leaning on the door frame, hands crossed over his chest casually.

"What's that you got there Sakura?" Kakashi asked, indicating the paper she had just put in her pocket.

"Oh," said Sakura as she dug the note out of her pocket and handed it to her sensei, "Just a note from Hikari-chan."

Kakashi quickly swept his eye over the note, and then handed it back to her.

"Sakura," Kakashi started, "I need to know everything that Hikari said to you. Did she tell you anything like where she was from, or why she was here? Why was she in the hospital?"

Sakura went a little wide-eyed at Kakashi's sudden interest in the girl.

"Well," Sakura told Kakashi all that was said outside of the hospital. Then she began to explain everything that took place in the hospital, and why Hikari was there in the first place.

"Mmm." Kakashi pondered the situation in his mind, "And was there a man with her?"

"Yeah," Sakura replied, "His name was Katsuo."

"Katsuo…" thought Kakashi. The scene from earlier in the day played through his mind once more. "Obviously a cover. Who is he really I wonder."

He nodded to Sakura, "Thanks." And his figure dispersed into a puff of smoke.

"Well that was weird…" thought Sakura.

--

Visions of the silver-haired man calling her name danced throughout her dreams. Hikari lied asleep, but when she awoke, she felt exhausted because her mind had been racing even in slumber.

She scanned the entirety of the room, a dim atmosphere blanketed it. She was in Itachi's bedroom again, lying in his bed for the third time in the past two days.

Hikari sighed and fell back onto the pillow. "I hope I'm not supposed to spend every night here," she thought to herself.

Hikari thought about the past events; at first believing them to be a dream. She sat up in bed, and then tossed her legs over the side to rise to her feet.

"Nature calls," she mumbled to herself and headed towards the bathroom.

After emerging from the bathroom, Hikari decided to leave the room, feeling too confined even though the room was somewhat large. Closing the door behind her, Hikari stopped as she heard voices coming from down the hall.

She could barely see, there were no lights in the hallway, so she used her hands to feel around, hoping she would make it down the hall without trouble.

Her hopes were in vain; she tripped over something on the floor, and fell forward, hitting her head on the wall. She heard the voices stop, and then heard Kisame say, "What the hell?"

Hikari sat up, and rubbed her forehead, "God damnit," she whined as the pain coursed through her entire cranium. She felt someone next to her, but her eyes were glossed over with sleepiness, and she couldn't make the face out.

"You're such a klutz Hikari-chan," she heard Itachi's voice. He extended a hand and placed his palm on top of Hikari's hand on her forehead. He pushed her hand off of her forehead, and felt it himself, checking the damage. Hikari looked into his obsidian eyes as he gently examined her forehead, his gaze 

dropped down from her forehead to meet her eyes for a moment; again, she was left confused. Why did he care so much? Why was he so gentle and kind with her?

He dropped his hand after seeing that there were no bumps, and then gently took up Hikari's hand, picking her up from the floor.

As she stood, he dropped her hand along with his tender manner, taking up his cold, emotionless personality, and turned to walk into the living room dining room combination of the house. Hikari followed silently.

Upon emerging from the dark hall into the bright lights of the room, Hikari rubbed her eyes and groaned.

"Morning sunshine!" Hikari turned to see Deidara seated at what looked to be the dining table, beaming happily.

"How the hell can you be so cheery in the morning?" Hikari groaned.

"How the hell can you look so ugly in the morning kid?" Hikari turned to see Kisame with his arrogant smile.

"I picked it up from you, you fucked up fish." Hikari replied with a scoff.

Deidara laughed as Kisame's smile disappeared, "You need to learn some respect brat!" Kisame yelled heatedly.

"I know I'm supposed to respect my elders, but I don't think that rule applies to tuna." Hikari answered him as she walked over to sit on one of the sofas in front of the fireplace.

"Are you calling me old, brat?!" Kisame just would not let the fight drop unless he had the last word.

Hikari wasn't about to give it up either, she was having too much fun. "You're deaf too?" she replied with a slight smirk.

Kisame sat up from his chair, "Damn brat!" he yelled with furious eyes.

"Enough you two," commanded Itachi.

"Just when it was getting fun too," said Deidara with a smile.

Kisame sat down with a huff.

Itachi took a seat at the table next to Kisame, "Come here Hikari," he said coldly.

Hikari got up, and walked over to take a seat at the table between Deidara and Itachi.

She looked over at Itachi, his eyes looked as cold as steel, and his facial expression held no emotion. This was not the Itachi she had spent nearly two days with in Konohagakure, but she realized he must have reasons for acting differently among the other Akatsuki members so she decided not to bring anything up.

She looked to her other side, at Deidara; he was just smiling and acting flamboyant. She rolled her eyes; Hikari had never been able to comprehend cheerfulness in the morning, morning had always been the worst time of day for her.

Tobi was just sitting across from her, quiet as usual, and Kisame sat horizontal from her with his sharp-toothy grin.

"So kid," started Kisame, "what's your story?"

Hikari's thoughts wandered to Naruto for a moment because of Kisame's question, "What do you mean?" she asked.

"Why were you outside of Sound, unconscious with two other Sound shinobi?" Itachi asked frigidly while staring down at the table.

"Well," Hikari started, "I was found wandering in the forest a few miles from Sound when I was only 8 years old, and no one knew who I was or where I was from. My sensei was the one that found me. He brought me back to Sound, and raised me as a father would. He trained me, and taught me, he really took me under his wing. But, through that whole time, I felt like something was missing. I can't remember the first 8 years of my life before Sound. I don't know where I'm from, who my family is; nothing of those first 8 years. I felt I needed to find those answers, and I wasn't getting anywhere in Sound, so I left. Those two Shinobi, they've been my companions since I was first brought to the village. They were sent by Orochimaru to apprehend me, so I had to fight them."

Hikari slouched in her chair; she didn't like having to recall all of those memories. And she knew they would want to know more, so she waited until another question was thrown her way.

"Your eyes," started Itachi; he turned to look into them for a moment, then turned back to resume his staring contest with the table.

Hikari understood what he meant, so she began, "I wasn't born with them, no. When I was about 10 years old, I was taken to live somewhere else. My sensei said that he'd be around, just not as much as before. It was only until later that I realized he had placed me in Orochimaru's care. I'd never met him until that day, but just from that first encounter, I felt a deep hatred for him. I don't know why, I just hated him. He was kind enough I guess, not as kind as my sensei though. He was experimenting, trying to recreate many powerful kekegenkai abilities. And he needed a test subject strong enough to take the experiments. He was working hard on recreating the Uchiha clan's Sharingan, and as you can tell, he did a pretty good job of doing so, minus the color." Hikari stopped for a moment. She looked up at Itachi; he was still staring, except now at the wall across from him, as if he weren't even listening.

Itachi's glance slightly shifted to Hikari, then back to the wall.

"If Orochimaru has the power to recreate the Sharingan, shouldn't we be a little worried?" Kisame asked, looking at Itachi.

"No." stated Hikari. Kisame looked at her, doubt in his eyes. Hikari continued, "Orochimaru tried to instill his recreated Sharingan in other ninja, but none of them made it through the procedure. He gave up on making an army of Sharingan wielding ninja because no one other than me survived the procedure; he didn't want to wipe out too many of his ninja."

Itachi sat gazing at the wall, taking in Hikari's story. "That could explain why my Tsukuyomi didn't affect her," he thought.

"How come you were the only one that could survive the experiment?" Tobi suddenly spoke up.

Hikari paused for a moment, "I-I, I'm not really sure actually. I asked my sensei, he said I was just very lucky but I don't believe that."

"Why not?" Kisame asked.

"First of all," Hikari turned to look at Kisame, "I'm not prone to good fortune, and second of all, I overheard Orochimaru conversing with someone else. He said it didn't surprise him that everyone else died from the procedure; he said that they were all missing the 'special ingredient', as he called it, which allowed for me to survive through that procedure."

Itachi glance turned to her suddenly. "So," he thought, "she did inherit her father's kekegenkai ability."

"You don't remember _anything_?" asked Deidara unexpectedly, "Before Sound, I mean."

Hikari stared at the table, "I have dreams once in awhile, but I usually don't remember them afterwards. I know that the memories are still there, I just can't process them consciously I guess."

Every time Hikari had to admit that, she felt a little piece of her crumble. Her past, it was right in front of her, but she could never reach it. It was as if someone were cruelly taunting her.

"Orochimaru definitely tampered with her memories," Deidara thought to himself.

Everyone remained silent.

The silence was interrupted when Hikari's stomach growled loudly. The kunoichi wrapped her arms around her stomach to try and silence it, and then she dropped her head to the table. She quickly snapped her head back up.

"Fuck!" she yelled as she rubbed her forehead.

"I forgot that I already hit it once," she thought to herself.

Deidara and Kisame laughed at Hikari, and Itachi got up to walk to the kitchen.

"Serves you right, brat," said Kisame with a sharp grin.

Hikari glared at him, "You're on my list you psycho sushi!"

Kisame just smirked at her as Deidara laughed.

Kisame sat up after a moment, "Tobi, let's go." Tobi sat up as well, and the pair walked back down the hallway. Before Kisame left, he yelled, "Be a good girl now kiddo!"

Hikari slouched as her lips pulled into a frown. "Don't wander into any sushi restaurants! They might eat you!" she yelled back at Kisame.

Deidara laughed again and said, "You two are cute."

Hikari crossed her arms on the table and laid her face in them, "You're so gay Deidara."

She stole a glance at Deidara, hoping he was annoyed; she was disappointed to see him smiling as if she had said nothing.

"Where are they going anyways?" asked Hikari.

"A mission," said Itachi as he placed a plate of food in front of Hikari.

Hikari sat up and stared at the well-prepared food.

"I didn't poison it," said Itachi with a slight smirk.

Hikari laughed, "I didn't think big, tough Uchiha men cooked so well."

Itachi shrugged and sat back down at his seat as Hikari began to eat.

"I thought Kisame was your partner?" Hikari spoke to Itachi before shoving some noodles into her mouth.

"Yes," he responded while staring straight ahead, "but that doesn't mean we go on every mission together."

"So," Deidara said quickly after Itachi finished, "What was with the whole squeal and then fly out of the window combo the other day?"

Itachi glanced over at Hikari, obviously wanting to hear an explanation as well.

A light tint of pink filled Hikari's cheeks, "U-Uhh." She took in a breath, "It's not my fault. It was you who was riding Itachi, Deidara."

Itachi's eyes widened a little as he remembered Deidara on top of him, trying to keep him from killing Kisame and Tobi.

Deidara leaned far back in his chair laughing, "So, you find gay men attractive Hikari?"

"No!" yelled Hikari defensively, "I mean, I'm only 16, and…it's not like I see men on top of each other often, I was just a little surprised." She nervously twiddled with her fingers.

Deidara stood up from his seat, "I wonder," he thought as he walked over to Itachi.

Itachi glared at the blonde, but Deidara paid no attention to him. Deidara swung one leg over, and sat on Itachi's lap. He wrapped his arms around Itachi's neck, and leaned his face in towards him for a kiss.

Before Deidara's face was within two inches of Itachi's, a loud squeal burst from Hikari, just as Deidara had been expecting.

Hikari tried to muffle her squeal with her hands, but it only made her squeal louder. She closed her eyes and squealed into her palms. She leaned back in her chair, too far, and fell over. She just sat there on the floor, still seated in her chair, kicking her legs in a squealing fit.

"Bingo," he said as he leaned back and unhooked his arms from Itachi's neck.

Before he could take another breath Itachi grabbed Deidara by the collar, rose to his feet, and tossed him across the room. Deidara landed gracefully on his feet, and a smug smile pulled at his lips.

Itachi glared at Deidara before turning his gaze to the kunoichi kicking on the floor. He sighed and closed his eyes."God," he thought, "I blame Manami for this."

He and Deidara looked down at Hikari. Small tears glazed her eyes, and her cheeks were scarlet. Deidara laughed again as Itachi picked the chair up with Hikari sitting in it.

Hikari fanned herself with her hand, "Damn it Deidara," she said with her cheeks still flustered.

Deidara beamed and stuck his tongue out at Hikari teasingly, "You should've told me the truth to begin with! I'm totally going to exploit every bit of that weakness Hikari-chan!"

Hikari looked up at Deidara, and then her gaze turned to Itachi, "If Itachi-kun doesn't kill you first, that is." A small smiled pulled at her lips.

Itachi rolled his eyes at the smiling kunoichi.

--

Kakashi finally decided to get out of bed after a sleepless night.

After showering and getting dressed, Kakashi found himself sitting at his table, staring at the picture in the pendant he kept chained around his neck.

"She must be working with someone," he thought to himself, "She felt that man's presence before-hand, she had plenty of time to run if he weren't someone she knew. Whoever that was that took her to the hospital, and who ran off with her, they must be the one she's working with."

He closed his eyes as he thought of the night he found his sister's house burned to the ground. He couldn't help but shed tears at the sight of his sister's charred body among the debris. Both his sister's and her husband's bodies had been found, but never Hikari's. He had always hoped that somehow, Hikari had made it out, but they predicted otherwise. The ANBU ninja that came upon the scene said they never saw someone escape from the house, and that it was very unlikely that the little girl could have gotten out without aid.

Kakashi put his face in his hands as he remembered the guilt he felt for years afterwards. He told himself that if he had been there, if he had just stopped by to visit that night, that both his sister and niece would be alive.

And finally, when he had been able to accept the past and move on, when he had finally stopped blaming himself, this had to happen. It's not like he wasn't overjoyed that his niece was alive. She was the only family he had left, and he knew that he was her only family. Kakashi had always thought of her as his own child, that little girl and his sister were the lights of his life; he was absolutely crushed when he was told that both of them had been snatched from his life so suddenly. But now that he knew she was alive, he would stop at nothing to get her back.

"Kakashi."

Kakashi lifted his face from his hands upon hearing his name called. He turned to face a tall man in a skin tight green jumpsuit.

"Gai." He said with a nod.

Might Gai, his undeclared rival, had been one to sympathize with Kakashi after the night he lost his two joys. Gai was one of the few people that saw first-hand the grief Kakashi hid under his mask, and he had helped him through it. Gai constantly reminded Kakashi that neither his sister nor his niece would want him to beat himself up. He was very thankful to have Gai around.

"I heard about Hikari." Gai said, "Do you know where she's been this whole time?"

Kakashi sighed, "I know about as much as you do Gai."

Gai stood next to Kakashi, and put a hand on his shoulder.

"We'll get her back." Gai said.

Kakashi put the pendant back down his shirt. "I hope," he thought.

--

The sun was high up in the sky, the afternoon was pleasantly comfortably with a slight breeze. Hikari and Deidara had been training together for about an hour.

"Gosh Hikari-chan," whined Deidara as he fell to the floor with a tired sigh, "I never knew you were so psycho."

Hikari sat next to Deidara, "I wouldn't be talking Deidara-kun. You're just as psycho. Look at your fucking hands!" Hikari pointed to the small mouth on his palm teasingly.

Itachi appeared behind them, handing them each some water.

"Thanks mom," said Deidara playfully.

Itachi glared at the blonde, and then sat down next to Hikari.

"Itachi-kun," said Hikari, "You promised that you'd take me shopping. You can't expect me to wear your clothes all the time."

"Why not?" he started with a smirk, "You look fine in them."

Hikari glared at him, "You promised."

Itachi sighed, and looked out towards the small lake.

"Well," said Deidara as he heaved himself to his feet, "I don't know about you two, but I'm starving. I'll see you later." And with that, Deidara disappeared.

"I-Ta-Chiii," Hikari whined. "Please?"

Itachi just lied down on his back, and stared at the sky.

Hikari exhaled through her nose, anger building up inside.

"Hikari-chan." Itachi spoke softly.

Hikari's eyes looked down onto Itachi, "Yeah?"

"What would you do if you figured everything out? I mean, if you found your memories? Would you leave to go live wherever you were from?" Itachi's tone was somber.

Hikari thought hard, "Would I?" she asked herself. She lied down next to Itachi.

"Why do you care?" she asked indifferently.

"Don't try and change the subject," he said with a smirk.

Hikari sighed, "Well, right now, I would go, but things can always change with time."

Itachi turned his head towards Hikari, "How so?"

"If I had a reason to stay, I would." Hikari said matter-of-factly.

He turned his head back, "Mm." he thought to himself.

"It's strange," started Hikari as she turned to look at Itachi.

"What is?" he asked as he turned to look at Hikari as well.

"This whole thing. Just sitting here talking, it seems…familiar. I know you're not the talkative type, not around the others at least. Why are you so talkative around me?"

Itachi sat there looking at Hikari for a moment, "I guess you could say it feels familiar to me too." He smiled at her.

Itachi sat up and scooted back to lean on a tree. His gaze wandered over to the small pond. Without warning, Hikari scooted near to him, and laid her head down on his lap.

Itachi looked down at her; he smiled as he saw her smiling back up at him.

"I think I had a dream about you once." Hikari said suddenly with a small smile.

Itachi arched an eyebrow, and his smile turned into a smirk, "Really?" he mused.

"Mhmm." Hikari nodded slightly, "It was just like this, with you looking down at me. Except," she stopped.

"Except?" Itachi pushed her on.

"Except," a slight pink colored Hikari's cheeks, "You didn't look as old."

Itachi laughed, "Now I'm old too?"

Hikari giggled slightly.

"There must be a way to get those memories out," Itachi thought to himself, "It appears that Orochimaru only hid them; forced her to forget. Forgotten memories can be remembered again. I wonder…"

Itachi took his right hand and stroked the hair on top of her head. The familiarity surged through Hikari, the whole scene felt as if it had played a hundred times over throughout her life. Hikari grabbed Itachi's left hand; she just sat there with it in front of her, examining it with her eyes, tracing the lines on his palm with her fingertips, moving each of his fingers individually.

Itachi laid his head back to fully rest on the tree. He smiled to himself as he thought, "She may not have the memories clearly in her mind, but her body remembers,"

"I must have known you," Hikari said quietly, "It's so surreal. My inhibitions just up and disappear around you. I feel like my body remembers you, but my mind can't."

"There she goes, reading my mind again," Itachi mentally said as he smiled.

"That's quite possible," he said quietly.

"I won't ask right now." said Hikari, "But I know you're not telling me something. And no, I don't plan on leaving after I figure things out, not immediately."

Itachi arched an eye brow, "Not immediately? It's not like that doesn't thrill me, but why?"

Hikari stopped examining Itachi's hand for a moment, and then she laced her fingers with his. "I guess you could say I have my reasons."

Itachi felt his heart skip a beat; he smiled and gazed at their intertwined hands before looking back at Hikari.

"I never thought things could be like this again," he thought to himself.

--

Itachi had been sitting there with Hikari for well over four hours; their intertwined hands never parted.

Hikari kept her word, she didn't ask about all the things he hadn't been telling her, but Itachi knew that she would soon. He comforted himself in the fact that she promised not to leave when he told her the truth. He just wanted a little while longer with her to somewhat try and make up for the past 8 years.

They had spent most of the time talking, and now they took turns asking each other questions.

"Do you enjoy working with the Akatsuki?" Hikari asked while tracing her finger tip over the length of the back of his hand.

"Enjoy isn't the word I'd use, but it is something to pass the time I guess." Itachi replied.

"Mm. "Hikari glanced up at him, before hiding her eyes with her lashes, focusing on his hand once more, "Your turn."

Itachi closed his eyes for a moment, contemplating what to ask. "What's your favorite color?"

Hikari paused, caught off guard by his simple question, "Purple." Her eyes glanced at him questioningly.

Itachi smiled, "I would've never guessed," he said sarcastically, "Your turn."

"Have you ever been in love?" Hikari asked nonchalantly as she moved their intertwined hands so that her cheek pressed against the back of Itachi's hand.

Itachi laughed lightly, "Yes, Hikari-chan."

"More than once?" Hikari asked.

Her breath on his hand made it tingle slightly, causing a minute skip of a heart beat in Itachi, "No, only once."

Hikari opened her mouth to ask another question, but Itachi took up his free hand, and placed a finger to her lips, "You've already asked two questions, Hikari-chan." Hikari sat silent.

"What about you? Have you ever been in love Hikari-chan?" Itachi arched an eyebrow.

Hikari's gaze left his. She took his hand away from her face and unlaced her fingers from his. She then spread his fingers out and placed their hands together at the palms. His hand was larger than hers, naturally, and Hikari just sat there looking at their hands and brooded over an answer.

"I…think so," she said.

Itachi could see the struggle in her eyes, "Think so?"

"I feel like, I'm not sure. I feel like I know what love feels like. And they say you don't know what love is until you've experienced it right? So that must mean I've loved someone. But in my 8 years at Sound, I've never fallen in love with anyone. So it must have been before then."

Itachi laid his head back onto the tree, deeply satisfied with Hikari's answer.

Hikari yawned suddenly, bringing Itachi's soft gaze back down to her.

"We should head back," he said.

"No!" Hikari said anxiously.

Itachi cocked his head a little, "Why not?"

Truth be told, Hikari really wasn't looking forward to the emotionless stone Itachi would transform into when they returned; she enjoyed his tender and warm personality. But she wasn't about to admit that.

"I want to see the sunset first." Hikari said with a sheepish smile.

She turned her head towards the horizon, as did Itachi, and they sat there and watched until the sun dipped below the hills.

"Alright," started Itachi, "time to—"he stopped as he heard a very light snore from the kunoichi.

He smiled, and then sighed. He gently picked Hikari up, and began to run through the forest cradling her close to him.

Itachi slowed down as he came near the hideout. Upon entering he crossed paths with Tobi. Tobi looked down at Hikari in Itachi's arms, then back up at Itachi's face.

"You're awfully kind and gentle with that girl." Tobi said.

"Hn," was Itachi's brilliant reply.

Tobi shrugged, "I don't really care," he said uninterested, "Just don't let her make you too vulnerable, now." Itachi could hear the arrogant smirk in Tobi's tone, and he fumed inside, but didn't dare show any hint of emotion in his face. Tobi brushed past him and left Itachi alone with Hikari.

Itachi brooded over Tobi's words, but then shook his head. "Now's no time to think that way," he told himself. Itachi walked down the long, dark hall, and walked into his room.

He placed the kunoichi on his bed and sat down on the edge next to her with a sigh. He propped his elbows on his knees, and let his face lie in his hands. He sighed once more and ran his fingers through his dark hair. He glanced over at Hikari for a moment, then back down at the floor.

"Make me vulnerable," he repeated Tobi's words, and then laughed quietly to himself, "In some ways, Hikari is stronger than I am. And besides, she's never held me back before, only pushed me forward."

He smiled to himself, but then quickly wiped the expression from his face, "I wonder what crap Tobi's trying to pull."

* * *

**There you have it! And, now I'm sure you all can figure out the main paring here. ItachiXOC. I had writer's block BIG time while writing this one. The next chapter will be delayed for at least 2 weeks for two reasons. 1) I'm going to be in Utah all next week, and 2) I need to stop writing so much 'smut' as my friend puts it. (Flying bloody corks out your butt Dylan!!) I need to buckle down and come up with some plots, and that'll be hard for a tiny-brained person like me. I'll try my best though! I also need to be funnier. I mean seriously. Either I'm really confused about what genre I have in mind for my story, or I just suck at humor, and I'm the funniest person I know! The ideas are in my head I swear! I just don't know what happens when I try and put them into typed word… As always, please review! (: I would love it VERY much if people would tell me what they like and don't like, and maybe suggestions for future chapters? ;D **


	6. A new team from the past

**Disclaimer: I do not, in any way, shape, or form, own Naruto or any of its characters.**

**Okay, so I wrote like 1/3 of this chapter 1…2…3…6 months ago. Then I gave up on this story-lost my inspiration and whatnot. I went off to write my own original stories, but now I'm back and trying to pick things up. Hopefully this isn't too horrible. Anyways, please at least pretend to enjoy this one! And please, please, please review if you actually read this! I'd love to know that I'm not just pushing myself to write this for nothing. And creative criticism is loved, as well as suggestions for future chapters. –insert heart of love here- Haha.**

Itachi had been sitting there with Hikari for well over four hours; their intertwined hands never parted.

Hikari kept her word, she didn't ask about all the things he hadn't been telling her, but Itachi knew that she would soon. He comforted himself in the fact that she promised not to leave when he told her the truth. He just wanted a little while longer with her to somewhat try and make up for the past 8 years.

They had spent most of the time talking, and now they took turns asking each other questions.

"Do you enjoy working with the Akatsuki?" Hikari asked.

"Enjoy isn't the word I'd use, but it is something to pass the time I guess." Itachi replied.

"Mm. Your turn," Hikari said.

Itachi closed his eyes for a moment, contemplating what to ask. "What's your favorite color?"

Hikari paused, caught off guard by his simple question, "Purple." Her eyes glanced at him questioningly.

Itachi smiled, "I would've never guessed," he said sarcastically, "Your turn."

"Have you ever been in love?" Hikari asked nonchalantly as she moved their intertwined hands so that her cheek pressed against the back of Itachi's hand.

Itachi laughed lightly, "Yes, Hikari-chan."

"More than once?" Hikari asked.

Her breath on his hand made it tingle slightly, causing a minute skip of a heart beat in Itachi, "No, only once."

Hikari opened her mouth to ask another question, but Itachi took up his free hand, and placed a finger to her lips, "You've already asked two questions, Hikari-chan." Hikari sat silent.

"What about you? Have you ever been in love Hikari-chan?" Itachi arched an eyebrow.

Hikari's gaze left his. She took his hand away from her face and unlaced her fingers from his. She then spread his fingers out and placed their hands together at the palms. His hand was larger than hers, naturally, and Hikari just sat there looking at their hands and brooded over an answer.

"I…think so," she said.

Itachi could see the struggle in her eyes, "Think so?"

"I feel like, I'm not sure. I feel like I know what love feels like. And they say you don't know what love is until you've experienced it right? So that must mean I've loved someone. But in my 8 years at Sound, I've never fallen in love with anyone. So it must have been before then."

Itachi laid his head back onto the tree, deeply satisfied with Hikari's answer.

Hikari yawned suddenly, bringing Itachi's soft gaze back down to her.

"We should head back," he said.

"No!" Hikari said anxiously.

Itachi cocked his head a little, "Why not?"

Truth be told, Hikari really wasn't looking forward to the emotionless stone Itachi would transform into when they returned; she enjoyed his tender and warm personality. But she wasn't about to admit that.

"I want to see the sunset first." Hikari said with a sheepish smile.

She turned her head towards the horizon, as did Itachi, and they sat there and watched until the sun dipped below the hills.

"Alright," started Itachi, "time to—"he stopped as he heard a very light snore from the kunoichi.

He smiled, and then sighed. He gently picked Hikari up, and began to run through the forest cradling her close to him.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"What have I got to lose?" Kakashi asked himself while standing outside the doors of Lady Tsunade's office. He retraced and reevaluated his thoughts. After deciding that there was really nothing to lose, he knocked on the door.

"Come in, Kakashi." Tsunade called from inside.

After closing the door behind him, Kakashi turned to face Tsunade. His gaze connected with hers, and then he moved up to her desk.

Tsunade's amber eyes searched his single black orb. Suddenly, she sharply stated, "No."

Kakashi chuckled, "But I haven't even said anything yet, Tsunade-sama."

Tsunade swiveled her chair so she could look out the window onto Konoha, "Kakashi, I know it's Hikari. But I'm not going to make an exception. We don't know the situation. She isn't a threat to the village, nor is she a necessity to it. I cannot allow you to go off and look for her aimlessly."

Kakashi stiffened slightly. "I wouldn't go alone," he tried to compromise; "I'd take Naruto, and Sakura."

Tsunade folded her hands and rested her elbows on the arms of her chair. "No." Her voice was low, but stern, "I will not allow it."

Kakashi continued, "It'd be a simple search and rescue mission. Hikari's an asset to this village, you remember better than I do how skilled she was."

"Do you hear yourself Kakashi?" Tsunade said, "Simple. When was _anything_ simple with that girl? She _was_ an asset, but both Naruto and Sakura are assets as well, and they are assets to this village _now_. How do we even know for sure that that was her? Her strength is what made her so dangerous. Do you _really_ need me to show you how many ninja this village lost on missions to stop attempts to kidnap her?"

Kakashi spoke, "She _still_ is an asset. That _was_ her. I know the numbers, I was a part of many of those teams myself, Lady Tsunade." He put his hands in his pockets and sighed slightly. "All I'm asking is for a week at most."

Tsunade stayed motionless, but her eyes moved from the window to her left. "That's _all _you're asking for?" Tsunade scoffed. "Where should I begin?" she started, "You're asking to take Naruto out of the protection of this village when the Akatsuki are hunting him. You're asking to take Sakura, _my_ apprentice, and one of our talented medics whose skills are needed in the hospital. You're asking for me to let three of my strongest shinobi leave when they could be needed here. And you're asking me to let you be responsible for both Naruto and Sakura when you're so blinded by your fixation on finding Hikari; you'd be jeopardizing them and yourself."

Kakashi looked down at the floor as he took in what Tsunade said.

Tsunade swiveled back to face him, "The well-being of this village comes first Kakashi, you know that. "

Kakashi nodded, he really had no excuse. Everything Tsunade had said was both true and logical. But since when did someone's heart ever take logic into account?

"Right." Kakashi said in monotone as he turned on his heel. Before he got out the door Tsunade said, "I'm sorry."

Kakashi paused momentarily, and then closed the door behind him.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hikari lied asleep on Itachi's bed. Itachi sat in a chair across the room, looking at the snoozing kunoichi. He reran the words Tobi had said over and over in his mind.

"I'm letting him get to me," Itachi sighed and put his face in his hands.

His head jerked up as he heard a low, terrified moan come from Hikari. He stood up and walked over to the side of his bed and looked down at her. Pain and fear were both intermixed in her facial expression. Her head tossed left and right, showing an inward struggle. After a few moments, the kunoichi lie motionless once more. Itachi turned to walk back to his chair when he heard a hushed cry. He looked over his shoulder and saw tears silently streaming down Hikari's cheeks. Itachi quickly walked back to the side of the bed and slowly sat on the edge.

His eyes fixed onto the tears that slowly slipped from her eyes. He reached one hand out towards her and rubbed some tears away with his thumb when suddenly; Hikari screamed and began thrashing violently. Itachi quickly slid both his hands behind her back and lifted her up from the pillow. Her tears came quicker, and her screaming and shaking got worse. He pulled her onto his lap and held her tightly to keep her from moving. He laid his chin on her head, telling her to hush in a tender tone. Hikari's shakes slowed to a stop and her screaming quieted. But her tears still came and they stained his black shirt. Itachi lifted his chin from her head, and moments later, another scream came from Hikari.

Itachi quickly began to hush her once more. One of her hands clutched onto a handful of his black shirt, an occasional gasp for air sounding from her. Itachi rubbed her back.

"What's running through your mind, kunoichi?" he quietly asked.

He kept one hand on her back, and moved the other one to brush her some hair from her damp cheeks. As he took his hand away from her face, she caught it in one of her own, and held onto it desperately.

After Hikari calmed down, Itachi laughed in his mind as he thought, "Still sound asleep."

He gently moved her from his lap back onto the bed. When he tried to pull his hand free Hikari's grip tightened around it. "Great…" he thought to himself. He sighed before climbing in to lie next to the girl. Hikari snuggled next to him and then lied motionless. Itachi turned his head to look at her, "I'm sure I'm going to get an earful in the morning," he thought to himself with a small smile.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kakashi walked down the street with his nose buried in his favorite book, a pitiful attempt to try and divert his mind from stressful thoughts. As he turned a corner, he could hear shouting from the other side of the building. He moved his single eye from the pages to look up at the corner of the building in front of him. By now he could clearly distinguish the voices of his students. He sighed, closed his book, and put it in his vest before turning the corner.

Sure enough, there was Naruto and Sakura, bickering again. Kakashi rolled his eyes, "Cool it you two," he sighed while he said this. "Maybe Tsunade was right," he thought to himself, "These two would be a real pain to have on a mission like this."

"Sakura is blaming me for Hikari leaving!" Naruto stuck a finger at her.

Sakura smacked his hand away angrily, "Naruto was a jerk to her! Why else would she leave? "

Naruto then turned to face her, "How was _I_ a jerk?!"

"'_You girls get so bitchy once a month?? Big boobs are very attractive_??' Jeez, Naruto! How immature could you be?"

Kakashi shook his head with a sigh, "These two fight as much as…" his eyes went wide in shock. "Why didn't I think of that before?!" Kakashi looked back towards Naruto and Sakura, "Gotta go. You two stop fighting and go train or something." And without another word, Kakashi was gone with a poof of smoke.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A girl in her early twenties walked into the restaurant a scanned the vicinity. The woman was tall and slender, about 6 feet tall and _maybe_ 120 pounds. She had shoulder length chocolate brown hair that was naturally wavy. Her skin was a light healthy color and her eyes were a light green color. Her outfit was of the same green color-a tight fitting sleeveless shirt that acted more as a dress, extending down to her lower hips. The remaining skin on her legs was covered by white training tape (A/N: could not remember what it's really called! D ). With standard black sandals, it was easy to see that this woman was a kunoichi. The Leaf ninja headband she wore proudly on her forehead was probably the biggest indicator.

She placed her hands on her hips and let out an angry sigh, "Where is he?" she thought to herself. She flipped her hair behind her shoulder with her hand, and then strode over to a bench where she would be able to have a view of the entire restaurant.

She placed an elbow on the table and laid her chin in her palm, her eyes moved about the room as if she were daydreaming.

"What can I get for you?" the woman picked her head up to look at a handsome man.

"Uh," she stuttered for a moment, "Just some water."

The man nodded with a smile and walked away. The woman was about to go back to her daydreaming when she noticed someone entering the restaurant. She furrowed her brows as she made eye contact with the man.

He walked over with a smirk and sat down across from her. "What's with the ugly face, Manami?"

"Why are you always late, Masaru?" she said ignoring his insult.

The man was about her age, with short, shaggy light brown hair. His eyes were a dark cerulean color, and his skin was slightly tanned. He wore a slightly baggy navy blue top and a matching pair of pants with black sandals. He wore his ninja headband tied around the upper part of his left arm, right underneath his shoulder.

Masaru propped his elbows on the table and folded his hands in front of his face, "If I'm always late, why do you still expect me to be on time, Manami?"

Manami rolled her eyes, "It's a simple thing, dinner every other week. You can't even make an effort to be on time for this either I guess."

"You're water, Miss." The man had returned and placed a glass of water on the table.

"Thanks," Manami nodded, but still glared at Masaru.

"Anything for you, Sir?" the man turned to Masaru.

"Some sake and an order of barbecued pork, please." Masaru grinned at the man.

His eyes trailed the man as he walked away, the grin on his face only growing wider.

A sudden hand against the back of his head snapped him back to reality, "Ow!" Masaru yelped and rubbed the back of his head, "What the hell was that for Manami?"

"Don't even think about it," her eyes turned to angry slits.

"You don't have to get violent," he spat back.

The man suddenly reappeared with Masaru's order, "Here you are," he placed the plate and sake on the table. "I'll check up later, enjoy."

This time Masaru just glared at Manami angrily. She laid her chin back in her palm with a bored look on her face.

"Good job," Manami spoke to Masaru, "See? Training is effective." A small smile spread on her face.

Masaru just rolled his eyes and shoved the plate forward towards the middle of the table and handed Manami a pair of chopsticks.

The two began eating the meat, and Masaru nudged the sake bottle over. Manami pushed it back.

He rolled his eyes, "Water? Are you serious? When are you ever going to live Manami?"

She smirked while looking down at the plate of food, "Someone has to be sober in order to carry your drunken ass home."

"Are you saying I drink too much?" He pointed his chopsticks at her playfully.

"Just enough to wake up the next morning with a hangover."

Masaru downed his drink in one gulp, and then poured more from the bottle. "I don't get hangovers."

Manami stuffed a piece of meat in her mouth, "Yeah, and birds don't fly. 'Don't get hangovers', my ass you don't. You obviously don't remember how we first met."

"Not really," Masaru smiled.

"See," Manami laughed, "You don't remember because you had a hangover the night after we met."

Masaru stopped and thought for a moment, "Oh," his cheeks turned a crimson color, "You can't blame me for that. I was just a kid, and it's not like you were drinking any less than I was."

He downed his shot of sake once more. This time, Manami's face flushed crimson. "Uh-h." she cleared her throat nervously.

Masaru laughed, "That's the _same_ face you gave me that morning. That I could never forget."

Manami forced a smile, but Masaru could still tell he had brought up some bad memories. He placed his hand over hers," Hey," his tone was soft, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bring that up Mii-chan."

She shook her head lightly, and gave him a sincere smile, "Naw, it's nothing. I can be such a hormonal wreck sometimes." She moved her gaze away from his face and continued thinking in her mind, "You'd think it'd stop hurting after so long. Get it together Manami, you're so weak."

"Stop beating yourself up," Her attention was captured by Masaru's serious tone.

"What are you talking about?" she offered a smile.

He just rolled his eyes, "Stop it Mii-chan. You always do that, pretend like nothing's wrong. You shouldn't bottle up things like that."

She pulled her hand out from under his, placed it in her lap, and continued eating.

Masaru became frustrated, "Are we going to have this argument again?"

Manami keep her eyes down, and replied, "Only if you push it again." Her tone sounded bored.

"If you bottle things like that up, you never get over it. You need to get it out, so you can leave it behind. You'll never be able to forget the past if you hold onto it Manami."

Manami's brows furrowed in anger, but she kept her mouth shut and continued eating.

Masaru saw that she wasn't going to answer, and he got angry himself. He downed some more sake, and began pouring another shot. "Jeez Manami. That's the only thing about you that irritates me. You act so childish, not letting anyone help you."

"I don't want your help, Masaru," Manami kept her eyes down and tried to keep her tone even.

"Why not?" his tone was harsh, "Why are you always like this? You get all sad about the past then don't want any help to try and forget it. You-"

Manami lost her control and slammed her palm down onto the table, "I don't want to forget!" Her olive green eyes were misted over with tears.

Masaru just sat there, dumbfounded.

"Damn it, Masaru," Manami wiped her eyes; "You always have to push these things, don't you?"

"What are you talking about? Why not forget?" Masaru's voice was low.

"I never want to forget. The past isn't what hurts, Masaru. It's now, it's the present. It's the future. All of that hurts to think about, but not the past." Manami's voice was a whisper.

Masaru didn't know how to respond, he just sat there for a moment. Boy, did he feel like crap now. Well, we all know what's good for forgetting things and draining yourself of emotion. He downed his sake and poured some more, "Come on hangover," he thought to himself.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(A couple hours, and a dozen shots of sake later…)

Manami felt better after getting that out. She decided not to say anymore, and to try and salvage whatever fun there was left in the evening. Masaru seemed to try and forget their little fight, but she could tell that she made him feel bad because, boy, he really was trying to get drunk. Masaru always did that when he felt upset.

Manami paid for their meal, and all of Masaru's sake…she'd strangle the money out of him later.

"Are-vwe leavin allllready?" Masaru's face was flushed and his speech was horribly slurred.

"Yes, we are." Manami couldn't help but smile as she held out her hand to him, "My little drunkard."

Masaru took her hand, "I'm nuuut d-d-d-runk." Once Manami got him on his feet she wrapped his arm around her should and wrapped her own arm around his waist. Masaru slouched and laid his cheek on the top of her head.

"Of course you're not," Manami said sarcastically as she practically dragged him out of the restaurant.

They slowly made their way through the streets of Konoha in silence, the streets were relatively empty as the sun slowly disappeared from the sky.

The two were about another block away from Masaru's home when he suddenly spoke, "I'm sorry about pushing you."

Manami was caught off guard, but kept quiet.

"You should have told me how you felt, Mii-chan." His voice sounded sleepy.

"Hush now," she said quietly, "You're tired and drunk, speaking nonsense."

"Naw-uh," Masaru replied. "I would have understood."

Manami kept quiet again, this was not what she wanted to hear right now. True, she didn't want to forget the past, but she **did** want to forget _that_. "There was really only one person that understood," she thought to herself. "But now she's gone…" She felt her depressed mood coming back as they rounded the last corner and walked up to Masaru's home.

Manami dragged Masaru up to the door, "Where's your house key, Masaru?"

"Uhhh. It's…hah, hah, hah." Masaru sounded like a loon.

Manami sighed, "Damn it Masaru." She propped him up against the wall next to his front door, "I don't want to wake Kaito up." She began digging in his pants pocket. "I don't know why he just doesn't come with us," she was talking more to herself than Masaru.

Manami began rummaging through his other pocket when she heard the door open. "Manami-chan?" she looked to her left to see Kaito's light blond head sticking out. "What are you doing to Masaru?"

"Uh-hh," Manami quickly removed her hand from Masaru's pocket, "I was looking for his house key." Wow, did this feel awkward.

"Masaru-kun got drunk again, didn't he?" Kaito sighed and walked out to help Manami carry Masaru inside.

"Yeah," she said as she wrapped Masaru's left arm around her shoulders. After they got him into his bed, Manami and Kaito took a minute to talk to each other.

"I'm sorry," Manami started, "I know I shouldn't let him drink so—"

Kaito held up a hand, "Masaru does what he wants, I know that." He offered a smile, "At least you're nice enough to drag his ass home. I'd just leave him there."

Manami laughed, "What kind of man did I leave my Masaru with?"

"He doesn't complain too much," Kaito laughed too.

Manami took a moment to look at Kaito. Short, light blond hair, with powder blue eyes that stood out underneath his ninja headband.

Manami wore a small smile, and her olive eyes were smoldering, "No, I don't see any reason why he would." Once she heard herself she shook her head, god did she sound like a sentimental loser. "I mean, you do seem to stand him pretty well. He can be an asshole sometimes."

"Well," Kaito was cut short by a soft knock at the door.

Manami's olive eyes widened slightly, sensing the chakra, "What does he want?"

Manami swiftly walked to the door and opened it to find, "Kakashi?"

The silver haired man stood with his left hand in his pocket, "Manami." He nodded. "Can I come in?"

Manami looked to Kaito; when he nodded she stepped out of the way and closed the door behind Kakashi as he entered.

Kakashi leaned against the nearest wall and closed his eye with a sigh. Manami and Kaito stood in front of him; Manami folded her arms against her chest, "No."

Kakashi sigh was louder this time, "What's with women and saying no before I say anything?"

Manami cocked an eyebrow, "So, Tsunade-sama said no too? What could you possibly want to do so badly that would provoke you to find me even after Tsunade said no?"

Kakashi opened his eye and looked Manami straight in the eye, yeah, Manami could see he had something big planned.

Manami's mouth dropped and her eyes went wide at what Kakashi had to say next, "I want you and your team to come with me. I've found Hikari, and I'm going after her."

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hikari's eyes cracked open a little, but she quickly squeezed them shut to try and go back to sleep. She hated waking up when she wasn't ready to get up; she tried to move her hand. When she couldn't her eyebrows furrowed slightly, and she decided it would be worth it to open her eyes in order to curb her curiosity.

She opened her eyes slightly, and then her eyes went wide with shock when she saw Itachi right in front of her. His eyes were shut, and his breathing was slow-he was sleeping soundly. She found that her hand was in his, "Wha-?" she thought to herself. "I don't remember this." She stared at their hands, and then she looked back up to his face.

He was so peaceful when he was asleep; Hikari felt déjà vu looking at his face. This was going to drive her mad, she kept feeling these sensations of familiarity, but no memories came back to her.

She decided not to worry about it; she learned to enjoy normal Itachi for as long as she could. He had bi-polar disorder or something; he always acted like a completely different person around Deidara and everyone else. She kept telling herself that he probably had a reason behind that, but it still didn't make her feel any less irritated.

She scooted a little closer to him and snuggled her face lightly into his chest. With a small sigh and a smile, she closed her eyes and went back to sleep.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**Okaaaaay. Hahaha. Well, this was a little challenging. Can't believe it took me hours to write this crap, but yes. D: I feel like I'm lacking in creativity with this story. But oh well. Chapter 7 isn't going to be up until after next Saturday. This is my last week in school before I get 3 weeks off, and I'm going to have all my focus on school until vacation. Plus it'll give me time to think of how Chapter 7 is going to go, and we all know how long it can take me to think of a story…it took me 6 months last time didn't it? xDD I hope whoever reads this enjoys this at least. And please leave a review if you do read! A small comment about what you liked/disliked, some creative criticism, or some suggestions would be very appreciated! :] **


	7. END

Okay, this story is done now for real this time.

xD

I love this story to pieces, it's like my first child, but I'm too into my own original stories right now—I can't even begin to focus on a story that constrains me even in the slightest way.

A big thank you to everyone that's taken time out of their life to read this blather! And an even bigger thank you to the…what, three people that actually left reviews? You people have little pieces of my love, because it's you people that are the reason why I made it to seven chapters! 3

Ash, out~


End file.
